Chipotle Ethical Dilemmas

In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and

Then Tom continues education with a little education on the variety of antibiotics and how “crucial for treating serious human infections” (Philpott). Using a hotlink to a well-known credible organization like the “Food and Drug Administration” back up some of his statistics regarding over use of antibiotics in livestock operations. Tom continually notes

Same with the GMO issue that was previously stated, it would be hard to overcome such adversity but it is possible. Chipotle should start by being honest with their consumers instead of putting out misleading ads. Many people know that they have been known to make people sick but it’s best to publicly address the issue in a professional manner and then work on regaining the trust of their customers. First off they should instill stricter health standards so that there’s less room for error in the kitchen. Proper education, training and supervision of employees are also a must. Also, sourcing out ‘product from trustworthy farmers, and strict testing or screening of those products would be extremely necessary. Although the ad in this case is highly questionable because of contradicting occurrences in real life, it’s very possible to get over those

A couple times a year local and national mass media put the spotlight on problems connected to antibiotic overuse. Some people consider those problems to be real and serious, and others think that the discussed topics are nothing more than new “fashionable” subjects to talk about, distracting people from “real” problems, such as climbing gas prices or war expenses. Meanwhile, antibiotic overuse continues as a common practice among US doctors and agribusinesses for the last 20 years. The practice of antibiotic overuse has put patient’s health at risk, contributed to antibiotic resistance and increased bacterial mutation to a new, stronger level; as well as it hitting the economy with new costly expenses in health care. It is time to stop

Throughout my life, adults have insisted the use of antibiotics to fight against the most inconsequential illnesses, whether it’s the cold or the flu. However, neither illness is due to invasion of bacteria. This misuse can lead to antibiotic resistance, also known as antimicrobial resistance(AMR), currently one of the central issues facing the public health system. While the process for antibiotic resistance occurs naturally through the process of adaptation, the mismanagement of antibiotic resources has accelerated the rate at which the bacteria adapt. The occurrence of this misinformation isn’t limited to a few adults: even some of my peers suggest taking antibiotics when faced with the flu. This leads to asking whether AMR is truly a problem and are present regulations enough to combat the issue.

Do you want the animals you eat feed antibiotics and the food is not fresh or do you want food that is fresh and the animals are feed right?Ranchers and farmers have been feeding antibiotics to the animals we eat. Ever since they discovered decades ago and has been found as a health risk to humans but there is a food chain that can help America. The local sustainable food chain is the best food source to feed America.

Since the introduction of penicillin to the public in 1942, antibiotics have gained widespread use throughout the world. The drug has allowed society to make advancements in medicine, increase an individual’s personal well-being, extend life expectancies, and stop and prevent infections. Antibiotics are one of the largest backbones to maintaining personal health in society today, yet there may be a day when we are no longer able to depend on antibiotics to fight infections. In the essay “Imagining the post antibiotic future”, Maryn McKenna establishes the importance of antibiotics to juxtapose how devastating life would be without them.

Since the 1940s, many arguments have been made about whether the use of antibiotics in livestock are harmful or beneficial. Another topic of discussion also includes whether these antibiotics present a negative impact to humans who consume meat, eggs, and milk from animals who are treated with antibiotics. Stephanie Veldman, who is the associate editor for Beef Magazine, wrote the article titled, The Antibiotics Argument, in October of 2005. She takes an approach towards explaining the significance of using antibiotics in livestock and how our food may be impacted by their use.

The main threat for the overuse of antibiotics are the creation of antibiotic resistant microbes, or more commonly called superbugs. Antibiotics are used to kill mass amounts of bacteria, but they cannot kill all of them. Some bacteria still survive, so they will reproduce and pass their genes down to their offspring. The offspring will now have their parents genes, which includes being resistant to a certain type of antibiotic. Tom Philpott, an award winning writer about food politics, explained, “And the worst part is that antibiotics use in factory farms is not mostly matter of keeping animals healthy.” Philpott is saying farmers mostly use antibiotics to promote faster growth and not to treat sickness. American Cyanamid, a pharmaceutical company, tested animals with vitamin B12 to see if they grew faster. The animals saw significant weight gain, and more experiments were tested. What American Cyanamid found was the antibiotic in vitamin B12 was actually causing the weight gain. This discovery led to mass amounts of antibiotics being used in animals. In 1950, before the discovery, there were 1.6 million chicken farms raising a total of about 560 million chickens. 28 years later, 3 billion chickens were being hatched in about 31,000 large farms (Philpott). The discovery led to mass expansion of farms, because animals were able to grow faster and bigger, so farms took advantage. Factory farms have been overusing

In health crisis matters, it is imperative that organizations who are at fault communicate with compassion when addressing the public and the media. Companies who apply this practice successfully are able to improve their credibility, provided their chosen spokesperson presents themselves as compassionate and empathetic when addressing the issue. By appearing genuine concern for the wellbeing of their consumers, and outlining necessary steps being enacted, a company can rebuild its public perception as consumers see their concerns being taken seriously and are thus are more likely to respond positively. Communicating with compassion and empathy is a tactic that Chipotle employed quite successful during the backlash of their second E. coli outbreak. Chipotle’s co-CEO and founder Steve Ells applied this practice during his appearance on NBC’s the Today Show on December 10, 2015 where he addressed the food poisoning allegations plaguing the business. When

The business I have chosen is Chipotle. In 2015 Chipotle faced a large ethical issue, they had an e coli outbreak. The e coli happened in eleven different states and fifty-five people were sickened from the outbreak, out of those fifty-five people, twenty-one of them were hospitalized from the outbreak. When people first started reporting being ill they were not sure what food from chipotle was causing the sickness, it was even harder to determine what caused the sickness because so many foods at Chipotle get mixed together. While investigating the outbreak Chipotle had closed forty-three restaurants in Washington and Oregon.

In 2001 Chipotle adopted the slogan “food with integrity” to describe its approach to sourcing and preparing ingredients (Merkel and Russell, 2017). Chipotle states: Ensuring that all of our fresh ingredients are as safe as possible is a serious effort. Not only do we need to work closely with our suppliers to ensure that the ingredients we buy are safe, but we also need to make sure that once those ingredients reach our restaurants, they are handled and prepared in the safest way possible. Chipotle’s CFO said: “We like the local program, we think it’s important, but with what’s just happened we have to make sure food safety is absolutely our highest priority. If it’s testing and safety versus taking a step backward on local, we would do that

Steve Ells is the founder and CEO of Chipotle. Steve is a trained chef and opened his first Chipotle store in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream store in Denver, Colorado. His goal was to serve high quality, delicious food quickly and in a “fast-casual” setting (Ells).

Chipotle’s “Back to the Start” advertisement captures the sentiments of the audience by depicting Chipotle’s competitors’ practices as unethical. In both “Back to the Start” and the “Scarecrow” advertisements, Chipotle attempts to align itself with society’s growing belief that humane agriculture is better. Chipotle’s advertisements present their practices to be ethical, which sets its products apart from its competition. However, Chipotle’s message employs the same sentimental appeals and logical fallacies that are effective in their competitors’ advertisements.

As stated by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy under Business Ethics, a business is a productive entity that provides goods and services for sale (Moriarty). “Business ethics can thus be understood as the study of the ethical dimensions of productive organizations and commercial activities. This includes ethical analyses of the production, distribution, marketing, sale, and consumption of goods and services” (Moriarty 1). In short, the idea of ethics can be described as morality, believing what is right and what is wrong morally. Big challenges fast food chains like the restaurant Chipotle Mexican Grill face in terms of ethics are requiring food safety, providing a safe environment for customers, giving the staff fair wages and secure working conditions. Ethics in business are important to the owners of restaurants such as the fast food chain Chipotle, owners of these fast food locations decide the difference between providing quality goods and maximizing profits. Figuring the efficiency of income comes to questioning if these actions are detrimental to the consumer.