Dear Chipotle,
I don't eat at your restaurants often. I have never been a regular customer, but rely on my mom's Asian cooking instead. But, when I get a chance to, I will.
The outbreaks of food-borne illness at your restaurants, scattered but connected, showed your lack of attention. But, since that period in time, no outbreaks have been reported, making me confident that you have learned from your errors. Moreover, I can safely say that my Chipotle, which I have been eating at for years without incident, is even safer than before. Your restaurants had issues with your supply chain and the decisions of individual managers. Seeing that you are testing your ingredients more heavily for food-borne illnesses and taking huge efforts to train all your employees, I am relieved.
Unfortunately, others are not so forgiving as I am. I am distraught to read newspapers accusing your of caring more about "food fads" than actual health and saying that you band with "food alarmists." As I see it, you've never obsessed over fads, instead committing to serving the best ingredients, based on healthiness, sustainability, and socioeconomic impact, to your customers. You've never been afraid to disrupt the norm to champion your own vision of a better future for food. I won't delve into the GMO-controversy, but I wouldn't call it a "fad." It is a serious matter that requires more consideration over the next few years before we decide to adopt it and significantly change the way agriculture works. For eliminating GMOs, you have been criticized for banding with "misinformed food alarmists," but now misinformed food alarmists are precisely the ones opposing your restaurant. They are the ones who hate your guts over a simple choice to challenge the norm and ban GMOs. They are the ones who don't go to your restaurant because of accidents that happened halfway across the country four months ago.
It hurts to see one of my favorite restauraunts psychologically linked to the words "food-borne illness." Please know that in my mind, at least, Chipotle will always be connected to the great memories I've had there, like team victory dinners and warm, stretchy tortillas, and to your innovative spirit that truly cares about food (even to the point where an employee handed me free chips, sprinkled with that lime-salt you guys use, to keep them from going to waste).
I can't wait to see the greatness your future holds as you keep improving.
-Kaitlyn
