For Immediate Release
April 1, 2006
Contact: Katherine Newell Smith
301-907-7590
kns4pr@erols.com

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Chipotle Mexican Grill To Throw a Kitchen Garden Fundraiser for Les Dames d’Escoffier Green Tables Project

Les Dames d’Escoffier (LDEI) and Chipotle Mexican Grill are joining forces to raise money for a cause they both believe in: to help Americans understand better where their food comes from, and how it is raised and the relationship to health.

As the Educational Sponsor of LDEI’s Green Tables Initiative, Chipotle will host fundraisers this spring at its restaurants in select cities for the LDEI Green Tables Civic Agriculture & Garden Initiative. All or a generous percent of total funds collected will be donated to Green Tables, with special emphasis on the National Gardening Association’s (NGA) Adopt a School Garden Program (www.greentables.org) or other Green Tables projects.

LDEI created Green Tables as a philanthropic program that its members throughout the world could embrace. These women professionals in the culinary, fine beverage and hospitality industries will lend their considerable expertise to existing farm-to-table organizations in their communities. They may teach cooking classes, help farmers develop retail products, teach at-risk youths to cook with garden-fresh ingredients and coordinate farm visits among other culinary-related activities. The goal is to help strengthen these programs and broaden their reach.

In addition, LDEI has partnered with the National Gardening Association. NGA members, though its GROW campaign, will offer their talents alongside the Dames to those same organizations to teach and develop better growing methods. Chipotle is an official educational sponsor of NGA’s GROW campaign through its partnership with LDEI.

Chipotle has signed on as a sponsor because it has a long-standing interest in providing wholesome, high-quality food to its customers in nearly 500 communities across the US. Since its creation in 1993 by CEO and Chairman Steve Ells, a trained chef, Chipotle has been committed to using only premium-quality ingredients. In 2002, it introduced naturally raised meats and sustainably grown produce to its menu as part of its “food with integrity” program that supports family farmers and sustainable agriculture. Chipotle’s partnership with LDEI and Green Tables creates excellent synergy to further the public awareness of the value of sustainably produced foods for individual and environmental health.

LDEI (www.ldei.org) is an international educational and philanthropic organization of women with exceptional achievements in the culinary field. The National Gardening Association (www.garden.org) is an educational organization whose mission is to spread the pleasures of gardening far and wide.

Educational sponsor:

Les Dames d’Escoffier International Chapters
Adelaide, Australia · Atlanta · Austin · Boston · British Columbia, Canada · Charleston · Chicago · Cleveland · Colorado · Dallas · Hawaii · Houston · Kansas City · Los Angeles · Miami · Minneapolis/St. Paul · New York · Ontario, Canada · Palm Springs · Philadelphia · Phoenix · San Antonio · San Diego · San Francisco · Seattle · Washington, D.C. ·

Greg Jewell, Executive Director, P.O. Box 4961, Louisville, KY 40204, USA
(502) 456-1851, Fax (502) 456-1821 ldei@aecmanagement.com, www.ldei.org