Chipotle on Nightline

[WordKeeper]

Nightline did a segment on Chipotle's restaurant tonight. It sounded awesome - fast food mexican, started by a trained chef, utilizing free range pigs, vegetable fed chickens and antibiotic free moocows. I was so excited to learn there are two in my town. I've been dieing for fast food with non-industrial meat.

take a look:

Chipotle Seeks New Model for Quality Fast Food - ABC News
Chipotle: Gourmet Burritos and Tacos

[Dreamline]

Thanks! I had not realized they were not just another chain. There is one near me too....


Jennifer

[Manomanman]

I eat there constantly. Their food is amazing. It's actually better than my own cooking, which is tough to beat.

[ginkgo]

Is Chipotle's a lot more expensive than than the fast food places? There is a taco/burrito place near me and they have vegan cheese and Baco fake meat. Actually Baco also makes fake meat burgers and offered samples to people in Texas without telling it that it was fake. The people loved the taste of it and were surprised to learn that it was fake meat.

I live in the richer section of Philadelphia and a greater number of people here are health conscious and vegetarian. One Japanese/Chinese restaurant says that half of their customers ask for brown rice instead of rice. (White) rice is not a whole grain like brown rice. There are lots of fancy restaurants around here on Main St and no fast food restaurants.

Then in a poorer section several miles from here, they have on their busy street a different fast food place every 2 blocks. A study showed that the richer people were (study done in Europe and the USA), the healthier they were.

The poorer person is too worried about money than to be concerned about health. The richer people do not need to worry about money so they are more concerned about health. Of course then there is a question of if the richer people are smarter than the poorer people but that is too controversial of a question especially with race inequality.

[funchy]

I've eaten there. It's ok. But don't forget it's still basically fast food: not necessarily locally produced, generally not organic, may be frozen, etc. It's still basically mass-produced convenience food.

Their web site is Chipolte.com Their web site lists white rice, not brown. Tortillas are still white (refined, processed) flour. Cheese appears to still be from homogenized milk from commercial [factory farm] dairies. My impression is that it's expensive fast food with a couple of items from specialty suppliers.

The "vegetarian" things on their menu confuse me. I found it odd that things such as salsa were listed as "vegetarian" not "vegan". What else are they putting in it and prevents a diced tomato-onion-cilantro mix from being vegan? Reminds me of McDonald's fries that were supposedly only "potatoes in 100% veg oil"

I would like to see a statement from them on their recipes' additives. Most convenience food is loaded with things like too much salt, MSG, artificial colors/flavors, preservatives, and other additives.

I do have a concern. I don't agree with the news story of "happy" pigs, as these animals are still stripped from mom at a young age, shipped to slaughter at a young age, and typically shipped and killed using the same stressful methods as other pork. I visited the web site of the pork provider mentioned, and I noticed huge windowless buildings in the photo to the left of the house. Why didn't the camera go there? Why no film of the gestation areas? Sorry to sound suspicious, but "happy" meat is still meat produced for a profit from young animals bred with unnatural traits. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I have a hard time connecting the world "happy" with commercial hog farms.

I do agree it's 100 times better than a chain such as Taco Hell, but it's been my experience people who care about healthy food don't usually frequent fast-food anyway.



Instead of fast food, may I suggest the health-conscious diner just carry food with them? A good snack isn't just a boring bag of dry old granola. I used to bring [slower to spoil w/o refrigeration] leftovers from home with me as a snack. Plastic containers like Tupperware are wonderful! If needed, insulated coolers and a cold-pack greatly extend how long you can carry temp-sensitive food with you.

If I have to buy pre-made food, I love the salad bar at most of my local supermarkets. It works out cheaper than the $5-$8 take-out meal, and I can get fresh fruit and freshly made items, and there is so much variety.

If it's time consuming to make up food at home, consider making it up in batches and have meals for the next few days. Some recipes are great frozen and reheated later. You'd have so much more control over the source and quality of ingredients, and you'd know for sure there's no added fats, salt, etc.




ginkgo-- Compared in price with other fast food: if I recall correctly from my visits, it's about 3x the price of other fast-food/take-out Mexican places in my area.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out Whole Foods Markets. They have GREAT selection of prepared foods (meals and desserts). There are so many organic, free-range, vegetarian, local-grown, or vegan options! And to Ginko or anyone else in Philly: There is a nice Whole Foods on South Street and 2-3 others in the Philly metro area. Last time I was there I got some fantastic vegan, organic oatmeal-creme cookies to die for! Mmmm

[WordKeeper]

That's interesting - I live about 1 mile from a Whole Foods. There prepared food is at mimimum $7.99/lb - even for lettuce, cucs,

I was able to get much more food for the same price at Chipotle's.

I'm not sure where you live Funchy but unfortunately there are not many options for wholesome food where I live. You make valid points but I recognize that you and I are on different paths in terms of food requirements. I am not a vegan nor raw foodist. I salute those who are but it is not my choice.

My interest in Chipotle's at this point is two fold: fast food is helpful for me at times and I suscribe to the Chipotle philosophy of "Food with Integrity."

"The hallmarks of Food With Integrity include things like unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised, added hormone free, organic, and artisanal. And, since embracing this philosophy,"

Chipotle's works for me and meets my interests in fast, low-cost restaurant food without supporting factory farming.

[Dreamline]

Mmmmm...A local place here, just featured on "Throwdown" is called The Pit. They seem to use a more naturally raised pig too.

There are a lot of pigs raised in North Carolina. Maybe more here than anywhere in the country. Not in a way that is anyway natural. In fact, I can never remember ever seeing organic pork for sale here. So when someone at least tries to improve that, I'm 100% supportive.

Jennifer

[WordKeeper]

Hmm - I'll be near Ashville this weekend. Is there a Pit there?

[Dreamline]

I think it's a one deal place. Raleigh.

But there may be a Chipotle. Asheville is full of good, New Age hippies and artist types. You can probably score excellent vegetarian fare there and more organic stuff.

Jennifer

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by funchy

And to Ginko or anyone else in Philly: There is a nice Whole Foods on South Street and 2-3 others in the Philly metro area. Last time I was there I got some fantastic vegan, organic oatmeal-creme cookies to die for! Mmmm

Thanks for the info. I am vegan. As far as Chipolte's here is quote from my website on losing weight: "By not eating meat, you do more to help the ecology of the planet and protect against global warming than doing anything else including switching to a hybrid car. In a groundbreaking 2006 report, the United Nations (U.N.) said that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) than all the cars and trucks in the world combined."

I go to the Whole Foods on South St every few days. Before that one was built about 6 years ago, I went to the Whole Foods on Callowhill St. They (South St) give out lots of different samples and one guy giving out samples is a gourmet chef. He can pick out any items in the store (and he picks the very expensive ones) and cooks up a dish and give out samples. He loves his job. Once he cooked up maitake mushroom soup. Then I made it at home-- I love fungus!

I also go the Trader Joes that was built about 6 years ago. I also go to the Essene Health Food Store and Cafe/Buffet. It is vegan and they have great tasting vegan (used to be macrobiotic) cafe/buffet foods like tempeh, seitan, shish kabobs and unique vegetables like burdock and daikon (I think they were from the macro diet). It is the best tasting but it costs $8.99 per pound. Do not let anyone fool you-- that is $9 minus a penny per pound. Between 5 and 7, you get a discount on the salad bar stuff at Whole Foods.

The above are all downtown (center city). I live in a rural part of Philadelphia that is a block from a creek and 2 blocks from the river. There are no rats around here (like in center city) but we have raccoons and possums.

[Dreamline]

Nice city you have there. I was lucky enough to visit once with an expert guide. Drexel graduate. It still reigns as one of my best experiences ever.

Jennifer

[Inthon]

Speaking from experience, Chipotle is fantastic.