What goes into SOIL HEALTH
Partnering with farms that implement sustainable agriculture practices can help improve and regenerate the soil for future planting and harvests. With your Real Foodprint, you’ll see the square feet of soil that can benefit from these practices with orders like yours.
Calculating Soil Health
Real Foodprint will show you improved soil health as a combination of macro and micro biodiversity, and the impact of your selected ingredients’ impact on soil structure. Acres with improved soil health are those under methods of production that cause less damage.
How we back it up
We partnered with HowGood, an independent research company, with the world’s largest database on food sustainability. They assessed each of our 53 ingredients and compared them to the industry average agricultural impact against five key metrics (reduced carbon emissions, antibiotics avoided, water saved, improved soil health, and supported organic land). For soil health specifically, they also relied on these additional resources for measurement.
European Commission Joint Research Centre European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) Global Soil Atlas
Bioversity International Agrobiodiversity Index
United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
Soil Health
Partnering with farms that implement sustainable agriculture practices can help improve the soil for future planting and harvests. You’ll see how many acres of soil are benefitting from these practices with every order.
THE BIGGEST IMPACT
The switch from traditional to organic farming practices can make a big difference to soil health. For us, these three ingredients contributed most to soil health, listed here in order of their positive impact.
beef
The biggest difference we can make with our cattle on soil health is through rotational grazing—or moving livestock between pastures on a regular basis. Doing so helps maintain grass and soil health over time, and helps keep carbon in the ground and not in the atmosphere. In 2019, 24 million pounds out of the 86 million pounds of beef we sourced was from partners who practice rotational grazing.
Soybeans (tofu)
It’s no big surprise, but organic growing practices help the health of soil by creating a thriving ecosystem from natural, not synthetic fertilizers which can harm the soil. 100% of the soybeans for tofu that we use in our Sofritas are grown organically.
Black and Pinto Beans
Beans are more than a staple at Chipotle, they’re an opportunity to make a world of difference. In 2019, we sourced 9.4 million pounds of organic or transitional black and pinto beans.
Room for Improvement
In 2019, 24 million pounds out of the 86 million pounds of beef we sourced was from partners who practice rotational grazing. Rotationally grazed, grass-fed beef and organic agriculture both have the potential to improve soil health.
Helping Move Farming Forward
As part of our commitment to Cultivate a Better World, we’re partnering with farmers to make the switch from conventional to organic.
Other SOIL HEALTH EFFORTS
We're Making
On-Site Retention
Measures like on-site retention allow the soil to rehydrate itself naturally, reducing the need for irrigation (and saving water).
Cover Crops
Planting cover crops can help manage soil erosion, fertility, and quality in between harvests.
Calculate your real foodprint
Build your favorite Chipotle entrées in our Real Foodprint order simulator and we’ll show you the impact you’re helping to make when you choose Chipotle.
Antibiotics Avoided
Avoiding use of subtherapeutic antibiotics in meat and dairy animals is a part of Chipotle’s award-winning animal welfare standards.
What goes into this
Reduced CARBON emissions
From farm to foil, we're reducing greenhouse gas emissions by optimizing our supply chain, compared to conventional ingredients.
What goes into this