Chipotle hitches a ride on coattails of hit documentary “Food, Inc.,” sponsors free screenings in theaters across the country; Campaign for Fair Food allies there to remind moviegoers of reality behind the “Food with Integrity” hype…

Never one to do a good deed quietly, Chipotle and its crack PR department recognized a golden opportunity to promote the company’s brand by hitching its wagon to the hit new documentary “Food, Inc.,”. Chipotle sponsored screenings across the country that were made free to the public — a nice little targeted advertising coup for the company, really, when you consider the less precise and more pricey option of network commercial time.

Just one hitch, however… The director, Robert Kenner, and co-producer, Eric Schlosser, of “Food, Inc.” joined more than two dozen food justice leaders in signing a sharply-worded letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells just last month. After years of uncontested claims of “Food with Integrity,” all the while buying tomatoes just like any other fast-food giant, Chipotle executives probably figured they could get away with one more glaring contradiction.

But not this time. In theaters across the country, Campaign for Fair Food allies rallied, demanding Chipotle show farmworkers the same respect they show small farmers and stop stiff-arming the CIW!

Moviegoers were shown the letter — signed by Robert Kenner, Eric Schlosser, Will Allen (Growing Power), Frances Moore Lappe (“Diet for a Small Planet”), Raj Patel (“Stuffed and Starved”), Josh Viertel (President, Slow Food USA), and two dozen other leaders of the sustainable food movement — which reads in part:

“We realize that Chipotle has announced that it’s paying an extra penny per pound for tomatoes, but we have to ask: What has Chipotle done since that announcement to identify and cultivate growers who are willing to raise their labor standards and pass the penny along to their workers? Your company has shown admirable leadership in working with – and incubating – meat suppliers willing to meet your higher standards. But your failure to do that same hard work in the Florida tomato industry – together with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – threatens to render your announcement an empty gesture aimed more at public relations damage control than an effort to make real change.”

Those attending the screening were also given the opportunity to add their names to the letter, which hundreds did, joining nearly 10,000 people across the country who have already signed via the email action by American Rights @ Work. Soon all those signatures will be delivered in person to Chipotle corporate headquarters by our friends at Denver Fair Food.

If you haven’t told Chipotle to join in a true partnership with the CIW and use its influence to end farmworker exploitation today, you can click here to add your name to the letter to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells today!