What’s On Your Plate? Pressing Chipotle on Pesticides
Susan Baker Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”) has been pressing restaurant chains to reduce the use of pesticides in their supply chains, continuing our research and advocacy on sustainable food and agriculture.1 Reducing pesticides is a logical step toward protecting the health of farm workers and consumers and minimizing soil and water contamination. The introduction of GMO seed has actually resulted an increase in pesticide use. Yet the restaurant industry has by and large failed to exercise its influence for good in this area. We think it is important for restaurants to get active to reduce pesticide use for a …
Chipotle – Ban on Pesticide Use (2010)
WHEREAS Chipotle has stated that “ ’Food With Integrity’ isn’t a marketing slogan. . . . It’s a philosophy that we can always do better in terms of the food we buy.” Yet, Chipotle has not systematically addressed the use of pesticides in its food sources. (http://www.chipotle.com/html/fwi.aspx) Chipotle customers and shareholders have come to expect the company to provide leadership in product sustainability. The company has begun gathering important information on water treatment and pesticide management from its avocado suppliers, but Chipotle does not report on this information to the public. Reporting on such practices as those used in its …
Dow Chemicals – Report on Pesticde Use and Asthma (2008)
WHEREAS: Approximately half of Dow’s end-use pesticide products (73 of 149) may be linked to asthma and other respiratory problems through active or inert ingredients or metabolites. Common Dow pesticide products with ingredients linked to respiratory problems include: FulTime, Dursban, Lorsban, Glyphomax, Tordon, Telone, Starane, Dithane, Widematch, Vikane/Profume and more. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 16 million people in the U.S. suffer from asthma. Since the mid-1980s, asthma rates have reached epidemic levels. CDC states that nearly 1 in 8 school-aged children have asthma, the leading cause of school absenteeism due to chronic illness. Children …
Recent Comments