Chipotle Has Jumped the Shark

[xBiffx]

Chipotle to Stop Serving Genetically Altered Food

“Just because food is served fast doesn’t mean it has to be made with cheap raw ingredients, highly processed with preservatives and fillers and stabilizers and artificial colors and flavors.”

Yeah, because those have what exactly to do with GMOs?

Yet again another case of people being angry with GMOs when its the food companies making the food you eat, not Monsanto et al.

 

[fskimospy]

Chipotle to Stop Serving Genetically Altered Food

Yeah, because those have what exactly to do with GMOs?

Yet again another case of people being angry with GMOs when its the food companies making the food you eat, not Monsanto et al.

Seems like a smart move on their part. From what I read in the article they claim only a small percentage of their ingredients are impacted by this, so it could be a case where it costs them little to do and they get a big PR benefit.

I 100% agree that the anti-GMO movement is bullshit, but that doesn't mean they aren't making a smart move here.

 

[xBiffx]

Seems like a smart move on their part. From what I read in the article they claim only a small percentage of their ingredients are impacted by this, so it could be a case where it costs them little to do and they get a big PR benefit.

I 100% agree that the anti-GMO movement is bullshit, but that doesn't mean they aren't making a smart move here.

I don't get why some companies do this.

Always a smart move to increase costs on your business due to an ideological stance. Riiiight.

Oh well, the customers that do remain will enjoy paying more for cheap food because of their own ideological stance. More power to them I guess.

 

[smackababy]

I don't get why some companies do this.

Always a smart move to increase costs on your business due to an ideological stance. Riiiight.

Oh well, the customers that do remain will enjoy paying more for cheap food because of their own ideological stance. More power to them I guess.

They (the companies) do it because morons fucking eat it up. People are more likely to go to Chipotle now. So, while their costs might increase (and profit per burrito might decrease), their volume will surely go up, thus increasing their overall profits.

 

[thraashman]

I don't get why some companies do this.

Always a smart move to increase costs on your business due to an ideological stance. Riiiight.

Oh well, the customers that do remain will enjoy paying more for cheap food because of their own ideological stance. More power to them I guess.

Well I wouldn't stop eating Chipotle because they aren't using GMO so long as the taste doesn't dip. When my option for this style of food in the area are Chipotle, Moe's, and Willy's; Chipotle is the far superior option. Enough that cost isn't a factor. But eskimo makes a point in that the overall cost to their business probably won't be very large, but the hipster/ignorant crowd will support them for this. And the rest of us probably won't change our habits regarding them significantly.

Personally, given the option between organic and GMO, I'll pick the GMO every time.

 

[fskimospy]

I don't get why some companies do this.

Because they want to make more money.

Always a smart move to increase costs on your business due to an ideological stance. Riiiight.

It's a smart move to increase costs slightly to increase revenues even more.

Oh well, the customers that do remain will enjoy paying more for cheap food because of their own ideological stance. More power to them I guess.

Considering Chipotle has been pushing the same basic idea of 'better food' at higher cost for awhile now, has incorporated other kinds of higher cost sourcing with dubious taste/health benefits and has seen explosive growth for years, they seem to have a pretty good idea of how to get more customers, wouldn't you think?

 

[Genx87]

My issue with a well known company like this pulling a PR stunt is it legitimizes the idiocy that is the anti-gmo movement. The avg rube doesn't know much about any of this. But if they see Chipotle advertising they aren't using it. Then they associate GMO as bad. Then the ave rube will go ahead and demand more anti-gmo products or worse legislation. The result will be higher costs for food and less efficient use of land and resources.


That said it looks like this is largely a bunch of BS anyways. To call their product not GMO only 1% of the formula has to be non-gmo. Sounds like the BS that is free range.

 

[smackababy]

Well I wouldn't stop eating Chipotle because they aren't using GMO so long as the taste doesn't dip. When my option for this style of food in the area are Chipotle, Moe's, and Willy's; Chipotle is the far superior option. Enough that cost isn't a factor. But eskimo makes a point in that the overall cost to their business probably won't be very large, but the hipster/ignorant crowd will support them for this. And the rest of us probably won't change our habits regarding them significantly.

And, Chipotle doesn't really take hard stances on this. I see it all the time. If an ingredient they prefer isn't available, they source from "normal" means and put up a sign apologizing for it.

Personally, given the option between organic and GMO, I'll pick the GMO every time.

Anyone with a brain would. It is far more likely that GMO product is larger and healthier than the organic product.

 

[Moonbeam]

I don't get why some companies do this.

Always a smart move to increase costs on your business due to an ideological stance. Riiiight.

Oh well, the customers that do remain will enjoy paying more for cheap food because of their own ideological stance. More power to them I guess.

Thank you. I just recently went there for the first time and back once already. Loved the food and was impressed by the message on my cup singing the virtues of family and community. Price was good too and I avoid GMOs wherever possible because of what Monsanto does to farmers trying to save seed.

 

[Brainonska511]

http:// storify .com/mem_somerville/gmos-herbicides-and-chipotle (you'll need to remove the spaces)- it's a storify link that summarizes a twitter conversation between Chipotle and a scientist about the nature of their new sunflower choices.

It's funny, because they're switching to herbicide-resistant sunflower. But that's okay, because it was "naturally" breed in by Bayer instead of a single gene or two insertion by Monsanto.

From a business perspective, it's a great move. From a society perspective, it's terrible because it just feeds into the pervasive and irrational chemophobia.

 

[TheSlamma]

I agree OP, shame on them for trying to serve food not loaded with all kinds of chemical BS.

I'm gonna take my business over to a place that catches it's fish from the Ohio river instead, at least then they will give me a discount.

 

[allisolm]

“Just because food is served fast doesn’t mean it has to be made with cheap raw ingredients, highly processed with preservatives and fillers and stabilizers and artificial colors and flavors.”

Yeah, because those have what exactly to do with GMOs?

From your own article - this is what it has to do with GMOs:

"Ridding the supply chain of genetically altered components is difficult. They lurk in baking powder, cornstarch and a variety of ingredients used as preservatives, coloring agents and added vitamins, as well as in commodities like canola and soy oils, corn meal and sugar."

 

[thraashman]

Link
- it's a storify link that summarizes a twitter conversation between Chipotle and a scientist about the nature of their new sunflower choices.

It's funny, because they're switching to herbicide-resistant sunflower. But that's okay, because it was "naturally" breed in by Bayer instead of a single gene or two insertion by Monsanto.

From a business perspective, it's a great move. From a society perspective, it's terrible because it just feeds into the pervasive and irrational chemophobia.

And the funny thing is that a crop bred by Bayer is still GMO, it's just altered using breeding instead of splicing.

A friend of mine just posted this article on Facebook. How I got converted to GMO food

 

[Carson Dyle]

Yet another case of a corporation listening to what customers want. A vocal minority, you can say, but that doesn't matter. This is a smart move on their part. The positive PR to cost ratio is outstanding.

 

[brycejones]

Chipotle to Stop Serving Genetically Altered Food



Yeah, because those have what exactly to do with GMOs?

Yet again another case of people being angry with GMOs when its the food companies making the food you eat, not Monsanto et al.

You are free to start your own chain that only serves GMO food.

 

[Brainonska511]

And the funny thing is that a crop bred by Bayer is still GMO, it's just altered using breeding instead of splicing.

A friend of mine just posted this article on Facebook. How I got converted to GMO food

Well, in the world of anti-GMO, if you use chemicals or radiation to breed in a trait, that's okay and can be non-GMO and organic. Just look at seedless fruits (chemical mutagenesis) and ruby-red grapefruits (radiation). Those processes that mutate hundreds or thousands of traits at a time in a random fashion are a-okay, but when you do it in a very directed fashion: stop the presses!

Or bt-toxin that can be sprayed on organic crops - when the plants are enginereed to make their own cry proteins (the proteins that kill insects that eat the plants and are only toxic because those insects have an alkaline gut chemistry), then it's described as "plants that contain pesticides", because we, as a society, have internalized the notion that pesticide is bad/unnatural/a chemical/etc...

I wonder what they're all going to do with sweet potatoes. They've got naturally occurring trans-genes from bacteria in them (a natural GMO):
Journal article: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/04/14/1419685112.abstract
News article: http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/04/20/genetically-modified-crops-nature-got-there-first/

 

[smackababy]

Yet another case of a corporation listening to what customers want. A vocal minority, you can say, but that doesn't matter. This is a smart move on their part. The positive PR to cost ratio is outstanding.

The issue is the more we listen to morons like this, the worse off we all are. It is funny people scream and moan about the fucking idiots claiming vaccines are bad, but something like "enhancing" our crops to ensure ample food production for the populous is something we allow idiots with zero scientific knowledge to whine about peacefully.

 

[fskimospy]

The issue is the more we listen to morons like this, the worse off we all are. It is funny people scream and moan about the fucking idiots claiming vaccines are bad, but something like "enhancing" our crops to ensure ample food production for the populous is something we allow idiots with zero scientific knowledge to whine about peacefully.

I think that's a tough one. The anti-GMO movement is stupid, absolutely, but people are entitled to eat whatever they want. Hell, I've lost count of how many stupid gluten free things I see when I go to the grocery store. Anti-Vaxxers are different because their stupidity directly makes the rest of us less safe.

 

[Carson Dyle]

The issue is the more we listen to morons like this, the worse off we all are.

No. The worse you feel, apparently. You want the rest of the world to think like you do, but it just doesn't work that way. They call you a moron, you call them a moron. Everybody is a moron and the world marches on...

 

[thraashman]

I think that's a tough one. The anti-GMO movement is stupid, absolutely, but people are entitled to eat whatever they want. Hell, I've lost count of how many stupid gluten free things I see when I go to the grocery store. Anti-Vaxxers are different because their stupidity directly makes the rest of us less safe.

Well, there is a problem with anti-GMO too. And that problem lies primarily outside of the US. There are plenty of places in the world where the anti-GMO crowd is likely to prevent entire crops of GMO food from reaching hungry people, thus causing starvation. I see no issue with a restaurant choosing to go anti-GMO. I see a problem when that same attitude causes huge swaths of people to starve.

 

[Genx87]

Well, there is a problem with anti-GMO too. And that problem lies primarily outside of the US. There are plenty of places in the world where the anti-GMO crowd is likely to prevent entire crops of GMO food from reaching hungry people, thus causing starvation. I see no issue with a restaurant choosing to go anti-GMO. I see a problem when that same attitude causes huge swaths of people to starve.

The EU requires their bureaucracy approve GMO food. That is where it becomes dangerous imo.

 

[xBiffx]

Again, how is this going to make them anymore money?

If Chipotle is around where you live you either go there or you don't. If you don't eat there now, for whatever reason, maybe you like Taco Bell or some other restaurant, I can't see this decision changing weather people are going to eat there or not.

If people already eat there now and they agree with this decision, it doesn't increase the number of people that will eat there. If people don't agree and stop eating there, then it will definitely make them less money.

I only see this as a money loser. Either because customers don't agree, or customers don't want to pay more for their food whether or not they do agree with this decision.

 

[Genx87]

Again, how is this going to make them anymore money?

If Chipotle is around where you live you either go there or you don't. If you don't eat there now, for whatever reason, maybe you like Taco Bell or some other restaurant, I can't see this decision changing weather people are going to eat there or not.

If people already eat there now and they agree with this decision, it doesn't increase the number of people that will eat there. If people don't agree and stop eating there, then it will definitely make them less money.

Some people may be more inclined to visit Chipotle due to this decision.

 

[IronWing]

Until Chipotle starts making tortillas with GMO/non-GMO, organic/non-organic/organo-phosphate lard, no sale. Veggie oil based tortillas are nothing but bio-degradable napkins.

 

[smackababy]

I think that's a tough one. The anti-GMO movement is stupid, absolutely, but people are entitled to eat whatever they want. Hell, I've lost count of how many stupid gluten free things I see when I go to the grocery store. Anti-Vaxxers are different because their stupidity directly makes the rest of us less safe.

Anti-GMO people don't effect us now, but if we let them continue to gain victories they will. Imagine if these idiots got a large enough movement to ban all production of anything that isn't GMO free? You think "all natural" production is going to sustain the US's need for food?