As college students, we find ourselves eating out a lot–sometimes two or three times each day. With so many options available to us, both on-campus and off, it is important for us to be consious of our choices. As Hopkins students, we are lucky to have a college campus which is conscious of the environment. In every building, there are color-coded recycling bins for paper, plastic, and aluminum. The freshman dining hall has recently switched to local and organically sourced ingrediants. But when students are no longer on the meal plan, they need to ask themselves about the nutritional value of their food as well as the impact their choices have on the environment.
One of the best places to eat around St. Paul’s Street is Chipotle, part of the nationwide chain of Mexican restaurants. Chipotle makes an effort to conciously and consistently lower its environmental impact by using beef and cheese without growth hormones, locally sourced produce.
“Farmed and Dangerous” satirizes the lengths to which corporate agribusiness and its image-makers go to create a positive image of industrial agriculture. The first season focuses on the introduction of PetroPellet®, a new petroleum-based animal feed created by fictional industrial giant Animoil®. PetroPellet promises to reduce industrial agriculture’s dependence on oil by eliminating the need to grow, irrigate, fertilize and transport the vast amount of feed needed to raise livestock on factory farms. Before its new feed formula can forever reshape industrial agriculture, Animoil’s plans go awry when a revealing security video goes viral sending Animoil and their spin master, Buck Marshall (Ray Wise – “Twin Peaks,” “Mad Men,” “24”) of the Industrial Food Image Bureau (IFIB), into damage control mode.
“Much of our marketing is aimed at making consumers more curious about where their food comes from and how it is prepared,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer at Chipotle. “By making complex issues about food production more understandable — even entertaining — we are reaching people who have not typically been tuned into these types of issues.”
“Farmed and Dangerous” comes on the heels of two award-winning animated short films from Chipotle – 2013’s “Scarecrow” and 2011’s “Back to the Start” – both of which helped spark conversations about agriculture and industrial food production in entertaining ways. The initial season consists of four half-hour episodes, but the storyline is designed to be extended to additional seasons. The show stars Wise and Eric Pierpoint (“Parks and Recreation,” “Big Love”).
Her Campus JHU hosted a viewing party of “Farmed and Dangerous,” as part of a campaign to promote healthy eating and sustainable agriculture. Chipotle even offered to cater!