Food giants such as Chipotle Maintenance of local farmers facing agricultural challenges

National brands bet big on small farmers.

Food giants as Chipotle and Sweetgreen They have long emphasized close partnerships with small or local farmers, in many cases due to the objectives of corporate resistance. Today, these relationships can be essential for the survival and resilience of the US agricultural industry, as the sector is facing increasing instability.

“The agricultural industry has lost 40 times more farmers than it has accumulated in the last decade,” said Chipotle Chris Brand, chief head of the brand. “The greater awareness of where the food comes from and how it not only grows can help everyone, but it can also turn a crisis to the agricultural industry,” he told Fox Business.

Experts and politicians are increasingly claiming that the long-term viability of small farmers and the ranch is essential for providing a more resistant, transparent food supply. This is a key belief in the Make American Healthy Again administration initiative, which emphasizes the clean and local food supply and the National Farm Security Plan introduced in July by US Minister Brooke L. Rollins.

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Her plan addresses what the administration He says they are “urgent threats of foreign opponents” while strengthening the resilience of food and agricultural systems of our country.

The economist of the Federation of the American Agriculture Bureau Vera Parus stressed that this is a challenging time for farmers and ranch of America due to a combination of falling crop prices, combined with rising land and expensive labor costs, regulatory uncertainty and the ever -changing commercial landscape.

“There are a number of concerns that weigh the minds of the country,” Parum said. While the farm office is encouraged by the agricultural provisions in the Law on a large beautiful bill, including to provide constant vital tax provisions and increased support for key farm safety programs, Parum said “still needs to be done.”

To emphasize how much the sector has been injured in recent years, data from the US Department of Agriculture, published last year, revealed a significant decline in both the number of farms and the total farmer’s area in the United States since 2017. According to the 2017 census, in 2020, for 2020, for 2020, for 2020.

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To help strengthen the agricultural sector and achieve their goals, Chipotle and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation have contributed more than $ 5 million in 2019 to support farmers through educational programs, scholarships, grants and perennial contracts for young farmers. The company has awarded 275 grants for seeds, providing $ 5,000 to help farmers of the next generation build stronger, more sustainable operations. In addition, Chipotle supported the transition of 425 acres from conventional to organic farming through transitional cultivation practices.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
Cmg	Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.	42.62	-0.26	-0.59%
Sg	Sweetgreen Inc.	12.46	+0.04	+0.32%

Chipotle said it would continue to rely on more farmers as it scaled its job. He plans to open 315 and 345 new restaurants in the United States this year.

“The job will never be done,” Brand said, adding that she had purchased over £ 47 million local production in 2024. “It’s from a farm to a massive scale,” he added.

Nicholas Jameth, co -founder and chief concept director of Sweetgreen, told FOX Business that the company continues to lean on its long -standing partnerships with small farmers as it scaled on a national scale. This year alone, the brand opened 40 new restaurants in 2025 and launched in three new markets: Sacramento, Phoenix and Cincinnati.

“Farmers consistently tell us that our partnership is important for their business, giving them predictable revenue, especially through times of insecurity, and the ability to scathing their distribution in new markets and opening new revenue streams,” Jamemet told Fox Business.

He also emphasized how these partnerships, some of which have lasted for many more than a decade, help the company provide fresh and ethically equipped ingredients.

“We have shown that while you scale, you can do it. And you can support the right type of manufacturers,” Jameth said. “It was such a part of our history and history.”

One of their customers, Dan Drake, owner of Family Farms Drake, said he was considering completely excluding his operation before partnering with the fast -paced restaurant chain. As the company is constantly extracted from the farm, Drake said they were allowed to stay on sailing.

“We thought that if they continued to grow and order more cheese, we would be able to maintain our farm – and we have,” he said, adding that his partnership with Sweetgreen “shows the value and impact that national brands of restaurants can have on the local farm, which allows us to grow and scale as they do.”

Chobani told Fox Business that he expects to buy 3 billion pounds of raw milk from over 430 family farms in Idaho, Michigan and New York in 2025 and that this issue is expected to increase to 11 billion pounds a year by 2031.

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The company said it has also invested significantly with our farmers to improve its quality of life-from health fairs to new rest rooms, football fields, distribution of personal protective equipment, warm winter clothing and farm safety training.

“Support in small farms is not a charity organization-it is a long-term business strategy that builds sustainability in our supply chain, confidence in our users and vitality in our communities,” the company told Fox Business. “By making our products in America and supporting our rural communities, we directly contribute to the local economies in our home cities and help build a stronger ecosystem.”

This investment also “creates a pulsating effect in the community, helping to support dairy infrastructure and companies such as forage mills, milk equipment companies, tractor traders, veterinarians, as well as local grocery stores, and provides a tax base for schools and other public services, “the company continued.