Pork

Many pigs are raised on factory farms and don't have a great life. They are penned in concrete and steel and given large amounts of antibiotics to fend off the diseases this type of confinement breeds. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, American pork producers use over 10 million pounds of antibiotics per year to keep their confinement raised pigs from getting sick. That's more than an estimated three times the amount used to treat all human illness.

Between the mistreatment of the pigs and the massive amount of waste produced, these farms aren't good for anyone.

Luckily, there is a better way.

There are ranchers whose pigs are raised outside or in deeply bedded pens, are never given antibiotics and are fed a vegetarian diet. It's the way animals were raised 50 years ago before huge factory farms changed the industry. We believe pigs that are cared for in this way enjoy happier, healthier lives and produce the best pork we've ever tasted.

We call this style of ranching naturally raised, and since 2001, we have sourced 100% of our pork from producers who follow these guidelines.

Beef

When we started purchasing naturally raised beef in 1999 we could hardly find any suppliers that met our standards. We’ve put a lot of work into poking, prodding, convincing, and occasionally applying guilt to ranchers in order to get more and more suppliers to meet our naturally raised standards.

Today, thanks to increased demand, we source 100% of our beef from ranches that meet or exceed our naturally raised standards. Once in awhile we do experience a shortage in certain areas of the country and we’ll let you know at the restaurants if that happens.

Dairy Cattle

A majority of the cheese and sour cream we serve at Chipotle comes from pasture-raised cows. This means that cows have daily access to outdoor pastures, are never given added hormones, and are fed an all vegetarian, plant-based diet.

As well, we haven’t forgotten about pigs and chickens. Though the process is more complex, we are trying to find suppliers who can provide us with pasture-raised poultry and pork. Eventually, we want all of our meat to come from suppliers who meet these standards. We’re definitely working on it. Stay tuned.

Chicken

By U.S. law, all chicken available today must be raised without added growth hormones. But we're taking that a step further by sourcing 100% of our chicken from farms that raise them without antibiotics either. We also want to avoid any supplier that uses additional additives in their feed, like arsenic. Some people see this as a way to make chickens grow faster. We think arsenic sounds a lot like poison.

Occasionally we'll experience a supply shortage of our naturally raised chicken, but we'll let you know in the restaurants if that happens.