The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

It might seem strange to see a chain restaurant promoting a film that savages the food industry.

But Chipotle Mexican Grill is partnering with Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media and River Road Entertainment to promote “Food, Inc.” The company is sponsoring free screenings in 32 cities, is promoting it in all of its restaurants, and will add a bonus feature to the DVD release about its commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture. With films like “Supersize Me” and “Fast Food Nation” exposing the dark underside of America’s industrialized agribusinesses, backing “Food, Inc.” offers some level of risk, though the company has been banging its “Food with Integrity” program for some time, claiming to serve more naturally-raised meat.

That translates to food animals not being given antibiotics or hormones, are fed a vegetarian diet (some feed cattle are fed chicken scat and ground-up parts of other animals, one of the ways mad cow disease spread from sheep to cattle) and raised in what the company insists is a “humane way.” Currently 35% of Chipotle’s beans are organic, and it strives to purchase locally-grown produce when seasonally available. Finally none of the dairy used by the chain is made with milk from cows given bovine growth hormone (rBGH).

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