#SafeLocalFoodGrows
Without one shred of evidence, a growing media frenzy has incriminated small farmers across the nation as the cause of the current food safety episode at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Not one of the illnesses recently attributed to Chipotle’s food has been traced to the chain’s local food suppliers, from whom Chipotle sources no more than 10% of its food purchases. Yet with alarming speed and NO EVIDENCE, media pundits and columnists across the country have rendered a guilty verdict against small farmers, labeling local food as inherently less safe than industrial food.
The great irony is that the local food movement originated in large part out of concern for safe food. Local food producers offer customers total transparency, complete traceability, and direct relationships. By comparison, centralized, industrialized food comes to the plates of eaters in complete anonymity from largely untraceable supply chains. Government holds both local and industrial food producers to the same food safety regulations.
The time is now for you to stand up for safe local food. We need your help to combat this growing public relations nightmare being faced by small farmers across the nation. Help us encourage Chipotle to continue their groundbreaking commitment to food system change, and help us educate the public on why safe local food grows.
#SafeLocalFoodGrows
