While the Rose Parade is filled with ornate floats designed to catch the eye, one, in particular, has stood out for viewers this year. Chipotle restaurant had a float titled “Cultivate the Future of Farming,” which included a live post-to-donate element that’s designed to raise money for young farmers across the nation. As stated on their website, the chain that helped pioneer the fast/casual dining trend will be donating $1 to the National Young Farmers Coalition each time the hashtag ‘#farmers’ appears on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram throughout the first day of 2020.
Join us in supporting the next generation of farmers. For every RT or tweet using #farmers today, 1/1, we’ll donate $1 to @YoungFarmers, up to $250,000 👩🌾 pic.twitter.com/wDZpIfFs8K
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) January 1, 2020
Fans of the Tex-Mex-inspired eatery took notice of their philanthropy and were quick to sing its praises on social media.
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“Since my kid is so into farming and animals, I’m going to #farmers so Chipotle Mexican Grill will donate $1 to save a family farm,” wrote one user, while another cheered on their efforts to “save the family farm.” It was also pointed out that Chipotle has been advocating for small farmers for some time, pointing out that “they rank #1 in using local ingredients from local farms!”
The 131st annual Rose Parade was also earmarked by a slight fudging of the facts from NBC’s Al Roker. As rain began to come down on Pasadena’s New Year’s Day tradition, the co-host of Today had stated earlier that it had never rained on the event’s long history. Of course, it did rain on the Rose Parade back in 2006, which Twitter users were very quick to point out.
Roker took the slip-up in stride, responding simply “I’m old. You’re right.”
The generous move by Chipotle comes on the heels of a rough couple of years for the chain. In February of 2016, the chain was forced to close its restaurants for several hours of re-training after outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and norovirus were reported at locations across the country. Flash forward to 2018, 700 customers got sick after eating at a location in Powell, Ohio, which came about amidst a fury of similar reports across the U.S., which lead to two lawsuits.
