written by Luana Hancock
I work for WhiteWave and my husband for Chipotle Mexican Grill—two Colorado-based food companies that have missions aimed at changing the way people think about and eat food. This common ground inspires lots of lively conversations about food at our house (usually enjoyed over a delicious meal, of course). We talk about how our food choices impact our health, overall wellbeing/happiness, environment, world economies, cultures, and access. One question my husband and I continue to come back to, though, is whether or not big is bad.
Horizon, one of our brands at WhiteWave, is a great answer to this question. Horizion all started with a small cooperative of organic dairy farms in 1991. As the company grew, our bigger size didn’t prevent us from focusing on the health of families and our planet. In fact, it actually allowed us to help more people get access to more organic dairy products. It also provided more opportunities for farmers. Over the past 19 years or so, WhiteWave and Horizon have helped farms transition to organic practices through education, scholarships and financial support. We’ve converted hundreds of thousands of acres to organic farmland, which uses methods and materials that lower the impact to the environment. Today, we work with more than 500 organic family farms across the country.
Similarly, Chipotle recently opened its 1000th restaurant, which totally blows my mind. The little burrito joint that CEO Steve Ells opened back in ’93 to fund the “real restaurant” that he—as a classically trained chef—aspired to have, struck a chord with diners that still drives Chipotle’s success today. In a nutshell, you get super tasty, flavorful food for not very much money. Add to that their commitment to sourcing sustainably produced ingredients and you’ve got quite a combo. For example, they were the first national restaurant company to commit to serving naturally raised meat. Today, Chipotle’s commitment to smart, healthy and sustainable practices translates to 75 million pounds of naturally raised meat this year alone. In other words, by virtue of its size, Chipotle, like WhiteWave’s Horizon brand, has provided more opportunities to more farmers to viably farm in a way that’s more sustainable.
Clearly these two companies are a part of my life. Not only is my livelihood tied to them, but they’ve also helped shape my own thoughts and beliefs on what food means to people and the role companies can play. This is not to say that any company, like any person for that matter, is perfect or without growing pains. But the concept that the size of a company, or its ability to grow, automatically determines its value to society is a limiting one. Big isn’t necessarily bad. In the case of WhiteWave and Chipotle, the ability to scale up good food can actually drive meaningful change. I’m proud to be part of that.
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