When I’m really hungry, there’s nothing I like more than one of Chipotle’s delicious and fresh big veggie burritos. What I recently learned was that I was eating a lot more than beans and lettuce and guacamole. I was also eating a philosophy created by Chipotle’s founder and chief executive Steve Ells.

“Food with integrity,” Ells says, “is driving our growth and profitably.” Integrity, according to Ells, means “ingredients that are sustainably grown and naturally raised with respect for the animals, the land and the farmers who produce the food.”

In the recent article in Fortune magazine, I learned that even though revenues tripled since 2002 and are now approaching $800 million, “the 41-year-old Steve Ells is not a numbers guy. He’s an art history major and a classically trained chef, who after earning a degree from the elite Culinary Institute of America worked at a posh San Francisco eatery called Stars. He opened the first Chipotle’s in Denver in 1993, hoping to save enough money to open “my real restaurant,” he says. His ownership stake in the company is now worth about $48 million. “It turns out that Chipotle is pretty real,” he says.”

Real, indeed. In addition to creating fast, fresh, and delicious food, Chipotle makes a serious effort to buy organic ingredients when practical. “20 percent of the beans at Chipotle are organic. Today, all of Chipotle’s pork, about half of its chicken and about a third of its beef is “naturally raised,” according to Ells. By this, he means that livestock are raised without hormones or antibiotics and given all vegetarian feed.”

It’s a great step in the right direction for fast food. With more than 530 restaurants, I’m glad to have many opportunities to support Chipotle’s business.