The Bully Holding a Burrito

Don't get me wrong, this is not a post against burritos. I love them. If I were to pick what style of food I'd eat mainly, it would be of the burrito/taco/guacamole genre.

This, however, is about the bully holding aforementioned burrito.

I'm tired of him.

I'm weary of having to read, watch, digest, respond, keep my mouth shut, open my mouth, boycott, etc., etc. It's exhausting to have to constantly explain what we do, why we do it, and how we do what we're doing.

That's even exhausting to write.

Chipotle is the bully. They have created the 2014 version of Food, Inc., this time, naming it, Farmed and Dangerous. Cute, huh? Kind of sounds like a catchy title some novice blogger/farm wife would come up with, right?

That's the point. It's catchy. It's supposed to be satirical. However, we all know that in our marketing driven world of crazy consumerism, this satire will be seen as truth.

And it's already happened.

I have been receiving links of blogs and articles in regards to Farmed and Dangerous, but honestly, I haven't had the energy to even get involved in the discussion, until this morning. I read Ryan Goodman's blog on Eatocracy on cnn.com (thanks for sharing, Holly). It's a well written, not too defensive, come and see me farm blog. The blog itself is good. That's not what caught my eye. It was the comments.

Oh the comment section. Otherwise known as anonymous evil gone to seed. Misinformation fertilizing misinformation (without using chemicals, of course).

If you have a minute, read the comments. One after another, folks are commenting on "natural farming," "being vegan," "healthy eating," "unsafe food." They're even using agricultural terms that I have NEVER heard of…and these people ARE NOT IN AGRICULTURE. I know I'm still relatively new to the whole ag gig, but when folks are just spewing buzz word after buzz word, I have to assume that their research was done on google.com, not my gravel road.

This is the thing. We're trying, Chipotle. We're trying to get our story out. We're combating the misconception that farming is mean and nasty. However, you're not coming to my house. You're not banging on my door to see what Joe does on a day that starts in the low 30s with winds gusting in the 40 mph range. You've never asked any of my ag friends to come and join you in a sit-down, knock down, drag out discussion in regards to farming, and while, again, I'm new to ag, I know some pretty powerful ag advocates.

So my charge to you, Chipotle executives, is: put down your camera. Put down your dang burrito and come to my farm. Have a steak dinner with us and then head out to do chores. Real chores. Not a farm tour. Wear your grubbiest clothes and help pull a calf. Help unfreeze waterers one day and then wade through muck and flooded roads the next.

But stop tearing us down to bring your cause up.

Because you just look like a bully to me. A bully holding a burrito.