Chipotle's decision to serve only beef and chicken that has been raised under optimum conditions, fed only a vegetarian diet and never violated with growth hormones or antibiotics is a good one. Other restaurants and producers of chicken and pork would be wise to follow its lead.
The food-based industries of the United States must realize their customers don't want to be fed unnecessary chemicals. After all, who wants their kids to be getting doses of hormones that will make them produce extra milk?
Even more, smart and ethical consumers want their cattle and chickens to be raised naturally, without being forced to eat the remains of their own species. Sure, feed insects to chickens, but don't turn cows, which were meant to live off grass and grain, into carnivores, or worse, cannibals.
The entire Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease) scare from a few years ago happened because ranchers were feeding cattle pieces of their relatives.
BSG spreads to other cows when they consume infected nerve tissue. All that trouble could have been avoided, though, had all our ranchers raised their animals on a vegetarian diet, and the people who could have gotten them to do this were the restaurant owners and consumers who bought the meat. By demanding the best, we only help ourselves.
But Chipotle and other food-centered companies could take it one step further by using locally raised meats and other products.
Kansas-raised meats should be the only beef, chicken and pork served here in Manhattan.
Knowing where our food came from is one more way to ensure the food served here is the best in terms of quality and nutrition. And it never hurts to support the local economy rather than pouring money back into a big national corporation.
Agriculture is the backbone of this state. Our farmers and ranchers produce incredible animals and cuts thereof, and they should be able to drive into towns where only their products are sold.
But chunks of beasts from other states - Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri or Texas - have no place on our kitchen tables or our restaurants.
