Chipotle Founder Steve Ells Is A Meat Reducer
Written by Vegetarian Star on April 21st, 2011 in Business, Flexitarian, Food & Drink, Restaurants.
Those who weren’t familiar with Steve Ells before tuning in to America’s Next Great Restaurant were probably at least familiar with his Mexican restaurant chain, Chipotle.
Ells is trying to make Chipotle as sustainable as possible, sourcing local ingredients and aiming for organic when available.
Ells, a meat eater, is concerned with the destruction large scale farms have done in terms of both environmental impact and animal cruelty. That’s why not only is he sourcing Chipotle’s pork from a network of smaller farmers who pledge to treat animals better and do not use hormones or antibiotics, he’s also working to lessen the amount of meat he eats.
“As I visited various pork producers across the country, I witnessed how family farms have been displaced by industrialized meat production operations, in which animals endure terrible brutality and suffering,” Ells said.
“Over the years, my tastes have changed, as has what I find myself choosing to eat. I used to think of meat in the center of the plate. Today, I am a meat reducer. This means I eat less meat and make sure that the limited meat I do eat is of the highest quality. My plate is comprised of seasonal and local vegetables with meat as an accompaniment. While this is a healthier diet, the main reason I now eat this way is because it tastes better and I feel better.”
Unfortunately, one great way Chipotle could have made more of its customers meat reducers is through better marketing of their vegan meat substitute, the Garden Blend made from Gardein faux meat. Introduced in several locations in 2009 and 2010, it has been pulled from many of those menus due to poor sales. For many Chipotle customers across the country, a black bean burrito in a wheat tortilla is now the only vegetarian and vegan meal option.
More on his thoughts on sustainable eating at MNN.
Photo: tacvbo/Creative Commons
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April 22nd, 2011 at 8:54 am
[…] the founder of Chipotle who is trying to make the chain as sustainable as possible. He has started sourcing local ingredients and is making strides to use organic in the restaurants. As a meat eater, Ells has taken note of […]
April 24th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Steve Ells is the biggest white trash entrepeneur. (I watching Restuarant Wars) His mommy must of been a working mom, and everything she cooked was a taco. A flaccid flour tortilla around some tasteless object. Put some american cheese and picante sauce and lets try this at home… Grab the captain crunch berries, a moldy tortilla and a kraft single and stick it in the microwave for 30 seconds and presto “Chipolte”… taste the crunch! and the moldy tortilla with gooey cheese… Gooey, Crunchy texture makes for an award wining dish! Even the thought of East Indian food being forced into a taco shows that Steven Ells can’t eat any other way except for the gooey drippy confines of his youth!!!!! Can you take that meatball and put it in a taco pleassssseeeee….