Erik Marcus and Chipotle: ending the oppressive, anti-vegan ‘burrito tax’
My vegan-filled Twitter-verse was in a tizzy this week over the announcement that popular Mexican food chain Chipotle would be test marketing a burrito that contained all vegan ingredients. The burrito, currently available only in D.C., contains your usual beans-and-rice, along with a “Garden Blend”: strips of marinated, grilled texturized vegetable protein in place of meat.
No one was salivating onto their keyboard more enthusiastically than Erik Marcus, author of Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating and the blogger behind Vegan.com. Marcus, speaking for marginalized, oppressed, starving vegans worldwide, proclaimed the menu item “fantastic news” for customers at Chipotle’s 830 locations across the United States. Chipotle, according to Marcus, have actually remedied an “untenable situation” that’s been threatening burrito-loving vegans for decades. It’s a human tragedy that Marcus likes to call ‘The Burrito Tax’:
See, the problem with Chipotle is that their veggie burritos are way, way overpriced — they’re only a dime or two cheaper than their chicken burritos. So, unless you care about animals or the environment, you’re an idiot to buy a veggie burrito since it’s a bad deal…..And the deal gets even worse if you’re vegan, because then you’re leaving off the cheese and the sour cream — two of the most expensive incredients [sic] in a burrito.
At first, I thought this entire post was written with satirical wit, as a fuck you to meat-hustling restaurants, like Chipotle, that introduce a token vegan sandwich to appease meat-free diners, all while perpetuating, financing and otherwise endorsing the suffering of millions of non-human animals. It wasn’t. Apparently, caring “about animals and the environment” means shelling out $6.10 to a company that doesn’t. In defense of what veganism should actually stand for, here are three reasons that Marcus’ sincere appreciation of tax-free sandwiches, and the mass-Twitter-foodie-orgasm that ensued, are a serious problem:
1. Vegans are not oppressed charity cases who spend their time ogling untouchable burritos.
Marcus opines that poor vegans have spent years picking at their overpriced Chipotle sandwiches, while omnivorous diners enjoyed “burritos the size of their head.” I’ve not been doing that. Instead, I’ve spent years packing peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, instead of throwing my money at restaurants that dish out cows, chickens, pigs and fish. I’m not oppressed. Actually, I’m a middle-class, white journalist living in the East Village, with a fully-stocked fridge.
But that’s not the point. The point is that veganism has nothing to do with whether we can or cannot eat at fast-food restaurants. Veganism, lest Marcus forget, isn’t about the dining options of people, but about the situation of non-human animals. You know, the ones who are being slaughtered to fill those flour tortillas until they become human-head-sized and oh-so-scrumptious.
2. Chipotle is many things. “Cruelty-free” is not one of them.
While Marcus is busy gobbling down fast-food burritos, Chipotle is busy killing animals and serving them up on trays, topped with sour cream and cheese. Oh, and they’re also busily spouting P.R. bullshit about it, too. Last year, Newsweek lauded the company for being a chain “that a pig would die for” (although, I’m pretty sure that if given the choice, they wouldn’t). The praise was the result of Chipotle’s announcement that they’d started using “humanely raised” animals and stopped buying dairy products that contained casein or hormones. The article paints a lovely portrait of Chipotle execs rubbing up against a small town farmer who probably provides an iota of their annual meat supply. Oh, as an aside, the article notes, the decision has “been great for business, too.” And it hasn’t even been tough: Chipotle adheres to “less stringent protocol” than the USDA does for organically-certified animals.
Even if Chipotle was using entirely organically-fed and humanely-reared animals (which they aren’t – the chain still buys from large-scale factory farms like Tyson Meats), it wouldn’t matter. The words “organic” and “humane” are a sham, and you can find many first-person accounts and eye-witness reports to attest to that. They mean that animal pens need to have a doggy-door or a window that passes as “access to the outdoors”. And “nicer” confinement is still confinement. It does nothing to change how we perceive and treat animals. All it does is make us feel better, even virtuous, about eating animal products.
3. Influential vegans shouldn’t use that influence to Tweet promos for non-vegan Mexican food.
Owning the domain Vegan.com probably attracts a lot of curious readers, and Marcus has an audience of around 10,000 unique monthly visitors, and nearly 1,000 Twitter followers. Very few vegans have that kind of sway, so it’s beyond unfortunate that Marcus uses his online influence to actively endorse non-vegan enterprises. It would be one thing (and not a good thing) for your average vegan dude to eat a Chipotle vegan burrito. It’s another (much worse) thing for the author of Vegan.com to devote several hundred words to praising a fast-food chain that’s making millions of dollars from sales of animal products.
PETA’s been buying stock in, and celebrating the bigger cages of, meat-manufacturing companies for decades. Now, we’ve got another mouthpiece promoting exactly what veganism should be abolishing. Guess what? Some vegans don’t want menu items that make lunchtime more convenient. But by lauding Chipotle burritos as a victory for veganism, Marcus suggests just that.
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I had a different take on the cost difference- the low quality of the “meats” used. I’ve been a long time veggie burrito eater because of the number of times I’ve gotten sick from whatever passes for meat in many a burrito joint.
It’s a bit harder to skimp on veggies- it’s quite obvious when the lettuce and tomatoes aren’t very fresh.
Great article. I’m not vegan, but I still don’t really care for Chipotle. I made the mistake of going in there during the dinner rush once and I barely survived. The harried counter guys slapped my burrito together so fast that I hardly had time to tell them what I wanted. The next time I crave a burrito, I’ll make it at home myself. And I’ll be leaving out the texturized vegetable protein, eek.
-Megan
(claps)
Even though I’m not vegan, I’ve found that people way too often confuse veganism with the vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is just a diet without animal products, Veganism is an overall lifestyle.
And I wonder how many insects were killed in the growing of whatever that texturized vegetable protein is made of?
lots of great points made here.
I was an ovo lacto veggie person for a long time then decided to make the change to vegan. I just couldn’t take it anymore…to much info out there for us not to be more conscious.
I am the only vegan I know, other than my online peeps
What really helps me when I know I’ll be out w/non vegans eating or just out for the day is having the prepared snack in my purse. I ALWAYS have dry roasted almonds on me…they have truly been a life savor when hunger strikes (or everyone else is feeding their face), they don’t take up a lot of room and they are filling! A couple fist fulls of almonds and big glass of water, I’m good.
I honestly do not think that a chain restaurant has the balls to be truly cruelty free…it would cut some profits and instead of making billions they might only make millions.
The complicated ethics of burrito selection…
Your tax dollars are buying bullets which ventilate the skulls of humans and yachts for oligarchs and yet people are worried about how many insects are killed by textured vegetable protein. Maybe you should think about how the historical circumstances which gave you the luxury of getting paid to discuss the moral implications of various burrito ingredients.
If you’ll refer back to #1, you’ll note that I reflected on my privileged, luxurious lifestyle relative to 99 percent of the world. We’re lucky enough to live in a country where we can learn about the “complicated ethics” that go into what we eat – and then do something about it. That’s why I’m vegan.
Furthermore, I can’t write about everything that matters, morally, in a single 500-word post about one thing that matters morally. I’ll get into the yachts for oligarchs another time.
In response to another comment. See in context »My point is that veganism is easily reconciled with a “privileged, luxurious lifestyle” because it does not threaten existent power. For self-professed liberals it is a much safer and more comfortable way of proving your self-righteousness than climbing a redwood or not paying your taxes. Like the Prius and Macintosh it is a way to express nonconformity through consumption.
In response to another comment. See in context »My veganism, at least, has nothing to do with non-conformity through consumption nor “proving” my self-righteousness. Veganism is a response to the moral status of animals, and could also be easily reconciled with not paying your taxes, if one was so inclined.
If you’d like to talk about this more, shoot me an email.
In response to another comment. See in context »I completely agree…my eating habits have nothing to do with anyone else….it’s about me and how I want to live my life. I wouldn’t eat my dogs or cats so why should I eat a cow or any-other animal out there? It’s unbelievable what animals go through just b/c some likes the taste of meat…gluttony in the highest form.
@solfish:
In response to another comment. See in context »As for a “privileged, luxurious lifestyle” , give me a break. I live in the armpit of WV and lucky if I can pay my bills every month.
As a non-vegan I’m obviously contributing to what I admit is the disgusting treatment of animals. But I know what I am – I made that choice. I applaud this post, because you’re right: veganism (and even vegetarianism) are taken on by many people for reasons that aren’t genuine, and ought to be called out on that. Well done.
i eat at chipotle all the time, so you basically just ruined my life.
[...] know that there is a vegan Chipotle burrito? I did not, nor did I know there is a hotly discussed anti-vegan burrito tax. Nor do I [...]