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Food

Frolicking Pigs & Willie Nelson Covers Coldplay: Chipotle Goes Back to the Start [UPDATED]

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You can thank Alice Waters for yet another thing: Chipotle founder Steve Ells' enlightened approach to fast food (or as they call it, fast casual.)

The rapidly expanding chain of farm-to-fast food eateries started by the Waters protege ran a two minute commercial featuring a cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist" by farmer/singer/songwriter Willie Nelson.

The short, animated film features the arc taken by a farmer caught up in industrial farming practices. It ends with a pigs frolicking and rainbows, an ending better than that of Latin Jazz categories during the awards themselves.

Personally, as a fan of both dubstep and Chipotle burritos, I'm waiting for a Deadmau5 soundtrack to tell the story of farmworkers and recent victories in the fields with Trader Joe's.

UPDATE 12:30 PM: Farm Sanctuary has offered us a comment on the Chipotle video:

“Factory farming dominates our food production. This industry's treatment of animals is so egregious that it must actively work to prevent people from learning the truth. So efforts like Chipotle's, which educate the public about industrialized animal production, are a step in the right direction. Yet, we believe that all farm animals are emotional intelligent individuals who should not be exploited. That's why it is our mission to further educate people about why farm animals matter every bit as much as our cats and dogs do.” - Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur

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