Kudos to Chipotle For Ditching GMO Ingredients In Its Food!

Customers in Miami rush to get GMO-free lunch at Chipotle's

Two years ago Chipotle Mexican Grill became the first national restaurant chain to voluntarily disclose the presence of genetically-modified ingredients in its food. Less well known, the company also at that time vowed to one day transition away from GMO-organisms entirely. That day came this week as Chipotle CEO Steve Ellis announced the chain has now moved entirely to non-GMO ingredients.

Steve is to be roundly applauded given that most of the rest of this nation's business class remains in the throes of a zombie culture of denial and false science - every bit as degenerate as the pseudo-science that claims there is no human-caused global warming. Just as there should be no debate in the latter case, there should be no debate in the GMO foods case that these entities - laden with shit like glyphosate- are totally bad for humans, leading to everything from autism, to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. See e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2014/03/alzheimers-epidemic-fro-eating-gmo.html

At the very least there should be no debate that U.S. consumers ought to be able to differentiate what their foods contain on the basis of GMO labels - like 64 other nations have done. Instead we are treated to fake assurances and PR - straight from the corporate playbook exposed in "Toxic Sludge Is Good For You" -  e.g.

http://www.prwatch.org/tsigfy.html

Including from our own government agencies.

The corporate whore kingdom often cites the FDA or other government agencies to bestow benediction on GMO foods, i.e. that they are "safe" - but of course these federal agencies were compromised and been bought out long ago  (via the  government to GMO lobbyist and back 'revolving door' route)  and have become de facto PR- whore extensions for the corporatocracy. This is why they incessantly fight to keep labels off GMO foods.

Thus the FDA's claim that:

"genetically engineered foods are safe for consumption and are generally as nutritious as comparable foods from traditionally-bred plants"

Is pure rubbish.  Anyone who seriously believes that codswallop needs to report to a therapist for a thorough mental examination, as their neurons have likely been gutted from the inside out. I suggest they are closer to being a zombie (or at least zimbo) than a thinking, self-aware human. Basically, the FDA and its agency 'sidekicks' will say anything to get on the right side of the corporations like Monsanto that produce this crap - so maybe at some future date when they leave the agency they will have a top lobbyist position waiting.

That reality still hasn't stopped the Neoliberal media from expressing outrage at Chipotle's move, including the Denver Post in an editorial ('Chipotle's Sanctimony on GMOs') two days ago.  The editorial bawled and whined about Ellis' comment that "we'd rather have food that doesn't contain them" (especially after Arpad Pusztai's study showing the effects of lectin-based GMO potatoes on rat brains and digestive systems).

But the Post never mentioned any of that, or that sixty four nations demand GMO labeling. NO, the editor instead caterwauled about Ellis' ballsy move while asserting "scientists and government agencies have already said GMO foods are safe".

So, in effect, "case closed" and we are supposed to believe corporate-compromised gov't  agencies like the FDA, and  corporate "rental scientists" like Henry Miller-  who spent the 90s peddling BS for the tobacco companies and crafting arguments to support smoking. Does the idiot Post editor really believe we will give credence to such a sellout shill? And most of these other pro-GMO "scientists" are also in the pay of the GMO producers, including those affiliated with the ACSH. ( American Council on Science and Health).

Make no mistake that Chipotle's move is a game-changer, because as been pointed (e.g. in Mother Jones, on Dr. Oz' show) most Millennials don't want their bodies poisoned long term by GMO-laden crap to get Parkinson's or Alzheimer's later in life. Hence Chipotle's move gives it a major competitive edge in the fast food market.

Also, sales of non-GMO Project Verified products topped $11b last year and will be expected to grow as other companies follow Chipotle and Whole Foods Market- which has pledged to have its suppliers offering GMO-free products by 2018. This is according to Carlotta Mast, editor of Natural Foods Merchandise Trade magazine.

I mean, seriously now, if people are generally more discriminating in terms of not putting trans-fats or fructose corn syrup into their bodies, why would they not also be about putting glyphosate into their bodies (which destroys nutrient value).It would be stupid to be fastidious about not ingesting the former, but freely gobbling up the latter!

Yes, there will be some initial "supply chain" problems, and according to Darren Tristano - executive VP of Technomic Inc.:

"It should take years for the supply chain to meet the increasing needs of Chipotle and other restaurants that currently avoid GMOs"

But it can be done! Much of the supply could be helped if the gov't ceased acting as whore promoters, corrupting most of the food chain with GMO infestations - including soybeans and. But since these agencies are in the corporate maw, and massive profits are on the line - we have an uphill fight.

Still,  Chipotle has shown it is feasible to do an end run around the GMO -dominated supply. For example, Chipotle found the biggest GMO culprit in its earlier offerings was soybean oil - used in its chips, taco shells and rubs for chicken and steak.  Undeterred, they sought an oil substitute that had the same properties but without GMOs. They found it in sunflower oil and started contracting with farmers to grow more of the plant, not so much of the  GMO-soybeans. Chipotle has also contracted rice bran oil for other recipes. The move away from GMO corn took longer, since that key ingredient was used in more products such as tortillas- so extra attention had to be paid to how qualities such as taste and texture were affected. 

Most amazing, and in direct contradiction to the GMO PR hacks, propagandists and promoters: The switch to GMO free did not result in higher prices for customers. This "dead idea" argument needs to be expunged once and for all so that Americans can be afforded the same choice in their supermarkets as at Chipotle's-  to eat GMO free foods