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Chipotle and the Cult of Secular-Kosher
Is it important to you that the coffee you drink be fair trade and shade-grown? That the grapes from which your wine is made be locally-sourced? That the food you eat contain not a whiff of genetically-engineered ingredients? Welcome to the world of secular-kosher, where Judaism’s ancient dietary code for ethical eating is discarded in favor of a New Age preoccupation with feeling good about yourself and a healthy dollop of anti-Big Ag posturing.
The embodiment of secular kosher is Chipotle, which, in 2015, would seem to be hell-bent on poisoning as many of its customers as possible: a norovirus outbreak in California over the summer and another in Boston earlier this month; several cases of salmonella poisoning in Minnesota; an outbreak of E. coli in the Pacific Northwest. All three pathogens are unrelated. States which have reported food poisoning from eating at Chipotle read like a particularly grueling NBA road trip: Illinois (1), New York (1), Ohio (3), Minnesota (2), California (3) Pennsylvania (2). Bastions of progressivism Oregon (13) and Washington (27) lead the the list. The Center for Disease Control has been working overtime keeping score. As of December 18, 2015, 53 people have been infected with the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26 bacteria.
Food with integrity.
Virtually all of Chipotle’s marketing reeks of moral exhibitionism. Far removed from the pedestrian aim of providing moderately healthy food which is tasty and safe, Chipotle would have you believe that “With every burrito we roll or bowl we fill, we’re working to cultivate a better world.”
The “better world” which Chipotle purports to strive for in its slogan places a premium on happy animals at the price of increased likelihood of poisoning people. When it says its meats are raised “responsibly” it’s meant to assuage the conscience of its agriculturally-illiterate customer base, not to reassure the rest of us that the Chipotle experience is as safe as, say, Burger King. But don’t take my word for it: its most recent annual report contained this gem: “We may be at higher risk for foodborn illness outbreaks than some of our competitors due to our use of fresh produce and meats rather than frozen and our reliance on employees cooking with traditional methods rather than automation.”
How’s that for a New Age slogan?
Chipotle has as much a knack for curious marketing as it does for food-born illness. Below are some pearls of wisdom Chipotle serves up fresh to its customers from such intellectual trendsetters such as Judd Apatow, Sarah Silverman and Toni Morrison.
It’s hard not to take a little pleasure in the self-induced struggles Chipotle, a company whose moral vanity represents a seamless convergence of both New Age and hippie values. According to an excellent article Henry Miller at Forbes — Chipotle: The Long Defeat Of Doing Nothing Well — the primary obstacle for Chipotle is overcoming its leap of faith that providing locally sourced, natural, and additive-free food can be scaled to work on a magnitude spanning an entire continent in which the distribution chain isn’t measured in minutes.
Until such a time that Chipotle proves it can overcome this obstacle, you’re probably safer eating at Sambo’s.
Chipotle’s marketing is annoying, but, dang it, their burritos are just too dang good. I gets the cravings at least once a month.
“Moral exhibitionism” is the perfect description of Chipotle and every other damned trendy food thing out there.
If food is the new sex, then Chipotle is the whorehouse where you catch the best clap.
Knotwise the Poet: At 2,000 calories per burrito I’d be surprised if you eat in-between.
You should try a local Mexican hole-in-the-wall.
Agreed. Chipotle is, at best, Mexican-ish food.
In general, a better meal for a better price. My brother and I always went to a place like that back home. “Burritos as Big as Your Head” is a great slogan.
Rosa’s is fast food Mexican done right.
At least the E-coli is 100% organic.
I go to a gas station near my house that has the most amazing trompo tacos. Still less likely to give me food poisoning than Chipotle.
Just goes to show that a Mexican restaurant can be TOO authentic.
I’m from Yuma, Arizona. Believe me, I’ve had plenty of good genuine Mexican food and burritos. I don’t really see the Chipotle burrito as Mexican food (Prawn has it right with “Mexican-ish” as a descriptor), but I love how it tastes and have not found (nor think it worth the effort to seek) an exact substitute.
Cumin, lime, cilantro. Put a bunch of that on anything and it becomes Mexican-ish. But Chipotle is selling more than food. Food may be the least of what they sell.
It’s not Chipotle’s fault. They’re just appealing to the moral vanity of their customers, which may become a bit more tempered when they ponder that “organic” often means fertilizing lettuce with manure.
Chipotle is selling a position about things that are desirable to liberals. If they happen to make food that won’t poison you, so much the better, but it is the slogans that they sell that appeal to people.
Take that, McDonalds.
Fair enough!
DD,
Dave whatever you do don’t take that IQ test or they’ll elect you to rule over them as Idiot in Chief.
Regards,
Jim
What Chipotle has figured out is how to deliver burritos with McDonald’s like speed. The burritos are not any better than competitors like Baja Fresh or Quedoba but they are fast. The moral preening helps to attract a few people, but if you go into any Chipotle less than 1/4 of the people in line could give a rip that the veggies are locally sourced.*
*On the bright side their commitment to local sourcing has kept them out of Montana. I only know Chipotle from travels, and when I am traveling it is a safe bet (maybe not safest) to pick-up something Mexicanish.
Overtly, no, but there’s enough social pressure to make it a thing.
I love the term secular-kosher, that’s brilliant!
Congratulations David, I think that’s a GoogleWhack of some sort (I forget the specific rules).
I should have known, just another shill for big agri terrorists, trying to cover up saboteurs who are looking to take down Chipotle for its courageous stance on GMO foods. Fight the power!
Fantastic links, Roberto! Thanks for making me aware of them.
People want to feel good about themselves, and people are unwilling to put in the hard labor to actually do things that would make the feeling genuine.
Hence, Starbucks, Chipolte and the whole “organic” “local” movement.
If you are a family of four living paycheck to paycheck, this is a silly luxury.
Just another form of empty elitism for the aspiring shallow elites.
Qdoba is essentially the same model, and (in my opinion) MUCH better tasting.
That is a good one.
And if people want to feel good about what their food purchases do to/for the world, they should embrace GMO’s. Growing more food on less land with less fertilizer or fewer pesticides should be a net positive for the environment.
Much better tasting and minus the moral pretension. “Food for people who like food” is their motto. Last time I checked, it’s ok for people to like food (in moderation, of course).
Never eaten there before. Looking at google maps it appears there are some in the area. Will keep in mind.
When I had my cheese business I worked under the premise not that we would never make anyone sick but to make it impossible. I only had one incident. It was a boy that was lactose intolerant. They bought some grated sheep milk cheese that by some improbable circumstances had cows milked mixed in. I felt very bad. They had been buying my product for years. I gave them a years supply. I instituted procedures so that could never happen again.
You should be on payroll for this comment.
The preservative laden, marginally radioactive frozen pizza (it was frozen when I bought it, not so much right now) I was chewing is mostly in my lap. Well played.
Qdoba is a good spot. The only thing I disliked about Chipotle was getting a teaspoon of meat with 4 quarts of rice.