How else to explain the extraordinary, coordinated attack on Chipotle for going GMO-free? Action Alert!
After announcing that Chipotle would make the switch to using exclusively non-GMO ingredients in their food, the restaurant chain was slammed hard by major news media outlets. Here’s a sampling of some of the headlines: “Why Chipotle Mexican Grill Going GMO-Free is Terrible News” (Time); “Chipotle’s GMO Gimmick Is Hard to Swallow” (Washington Post); “Why We Can’t Take Chipotle’s GMO Announcement All That Seriously” (NPR).
We’ve come to expect a complete and utter lack of balanced reporting and journalistic integrity when it comes to some of the issues the natural health community cares about, but this sort of vindictive screed against a company for simply trying to satisfy its customers strikes us as particularly egregious and appalling.
The smear job does have one merit. It brings out into the open what GMO investigators have to deal with every day: constant intimidation and threat. Any scientist who dares take on GMO special interests will be told that his or her career will be ruined, and then ever more intense pressure will follow. Why? Because the biotech and Big Pharma companies involved have huge sums of money at their disposal—money that can make or break university research budgets, and money that is channeled to media advertising, which is keeping traditional media alive.
The most vehement denunciation of Chipotle’s recent decision came from the editorial board of the Washington Post, which wrote, “Thus has a leading food company added its imprimatur to a global propaganda campaign that is not only contrary to the best scientific knowledge but also potentially harmful to vulnerable populations around the world.” Apparently the editorial board feels qualified to decide unilaterally who the “best” scientists are—and this without even considering who is being paid by whom! The Post then laments the fact that “the anti-GMO lobby has scared people, and burritos can be sold by pandering to these fears.”
To learn who is really scared—and for good reason—just speak to the scientists and doctors who dare raise questions about GMO safety. After Dr. Mehmet Oz covered the recent classification of glyphosate—the pesticide associated with many GMO crops—as a probable human carcinogen, a group of doctors sent a letter to Columbia University asking for Dr. Oz’s removal as vice chair of the Department of Surgery at Columbia’s medical school.
Rather than adding anything meaningful to the debate, the major media outlets are sending a clear message to the restaurant industry: “If you follow in Chipotle’s footsteps, we will make an example of you.” It seems clear to us that such a frontal attack by major news outlets must have been instigated by the biotech industry’s PR departments.
Despite the opinions of these media outlets, which are desperately chasing advertising dollars, 93 percent of Americans support labeling GMOs. Companies that respond positively to consumer demand should be applauded, not vilified. In what universe is it “pandering” to provide consumers with what they want?
Momentum is building behind the movement to label foods that contain GMOs. Last week, a federal court denied the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s attempt to block Vermont’s recent GMO labeling law. The law is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2016. However, the state’s motion to dismiss the GMA’s case was also denied, so the lawsuit against the legislation will likely continue.
This decision is crucial because it helps advance the Connecticut and Maine labeling laws, whose language Jonathan Emord of Emord & Associates and ANH-USA provided to legislators. After our language was accepted, trigger clauses were added to both bills, requiring four other states (in Connecticut’s case) and five other states (in Maine’s case) to pass similar bills before the legislation goes into effect.
Applauding the decision in Vermont, Emord told ANH-USA that “the United States District Court for Vermont properly applied First Amendment precedent to strike down a summary challenge to Vermont’s GMO labeling law. That decision bodes well for the substantially similar bills in Maine and Connecticut. The efforts of ANH have proven indispensable in bringing to pass this great outcome, which affirms truth in labeling against the advocates of deception.”
Seeing the writing on the wall, the GMA and other special interests are not sitting still. Just one day after the Vermont decision, Big Food— working under the misleading name of the Coalition for Safe and Affordable Food—sent a letter signed by 370 groups urging members to co-sponsor Rep. Pompeo’s (R-KS) “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.” As we reported a few weeks ago, this bill would make the labeling of foods containing GMOs voluntary and would supersede mandatory labeling laws at the state level.
With companies like Chipotle going GMO-free and key advancements in states laws requiring the labeling of GMOs, there are reasons to be optimistic. But advocates and activists must send clear messages: one of encouragement to Chipotle for responding to the preferences of consumers, and one of admonishment to media outlets for caving into industry pressure and viciously attacking Chipotle on this issue.
Action Alert! Send a message to Chipotle thanking them for going GMO-free and for responding to the overwhelming desire of consumers to have a choice about the food that they eat. Please send your message today!
Action Alert! Send a message to the Washington Post, Time Magazine, and NPR expressing your frustration about their one-sided reporting on this issue, and ask them why they are demonizing a company for positively responding to its consumers. Please send your message immediately!
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Is it really necessary to explain to you that 95% of US media are owned by half a dozen multinational corporations — which also, surprise, own MOST of everything else?
Amen it’s all owned by 6 corporations or people which is UN-American!!
Alas, it’s VERY American….
I don’t care what the media says. I would be more likely to eat at Chipotle with this improvement to quality of ingredients! Good thing! The media is losing credibility with more Americans every day.
The industry will pay for the atrocities it commits. Simply attempting to deceive people about the Truth will not result in their success, it will only result in the downfall of the Human Species. Trading life for profits is inherently wrong and it will never bring anything positive. Those who wish to deceive people to keep the status quo going will find that their efforts were all in vain when even they are taken out by their corrupt system of blinded greed and pursuits of value-less human fabrications that have no basis in Reality.
At some point, the US will have to change its ways and it will either do so voluntarily or it will be FORCED by the planet earth…and when the earth does it, it isn’t going to be pretty.
The “Media” or ‘Propaganda Networks’ as I call them have a direct link to the very industry/status quo that is poisoning the world. They take advertising money from the very corporations that are destroying life on this planet so it is in their interest to facilitate the obviously false rhetoric that is generated by the Sick and Twisted Society we live in that is perpetrating a toxic monopoly on life itself. They say minorities feel “entitled” but THEY are the ones acting entitled, with their private jets and their attempt at patenting and selling life itself. Rich people are basically emotionally damaged children who were never taught love or compassion; They are blinded by their materialistic pursuits and have traded even life itself for their meaningless fabrications.
Humans will HAVE to change at some point and like I said before; They will either do it voluntarily or they will be FORCED by the planet earth…and it won’t be pretty.
Propaganda? It’s about time the true message regarding GMO is reaching Americans. The rest of the world is watching and asking what has taken us so long to realize what the FDA has allowed to be put in our food, in our children’s food. Hooray Chipolte’s!. We need MORE restaurants to have a conscience about what they sell. And we need the press to tell the truth.
The sad thing is it isn’t a matter of “what is taking so long” it is the fact that the US creates what I have dubbed “CancerFood (anything that is biotech or agrochemical related, the residues of which lace 80-90% of the US food supply at unhealthy levels.) so it is in their interest to continue to deceive and perpetrate their atrocities for more profits, which as stated by the biotech industry itself “Its only intention is to sell more of its product, not its safety” yet the regulatory agencies let these same companies regulate themselves and their toxic products! This is the rich peoples form of “depopulation” they see us as nothing but carcasses that they can give cancer, treat for cancer, and harvest our organs after we die…the US is just one big false monopoly on life itself that is toxic and abusive, claiming that it is the greatest thing ever made (which it is obviously not and never will be as long as it continues this nonsense).
Whoever or whatever made Hugh Grant so important anyway? As far as I am concerned he is just another rotting corpse that will never do any good until he drops dead. Monsanto and all the biotech industries, let this be a warning to you: There is no future in self destruction, not even if you have all the money in the world.
You are not special, you are not safe and you are not exempt.
The FDA, in its job to “regulate tobacco”, ignores and allows typical cigarettes to contain residues of any of some 400 pesticides, dioxin-creating chlorine from some of those pesticides and the bleached paper, carcinogenic levels of rads from certain still “legal” phosphate fertilizers, fake tobacco from many sorts of industrial waste cellulose, non-tobacco additives galore (even some that become carcinogenic when burned), and unlabeled, untested kid-attracting sweeteners, flavors and soothing substances…plus added burn accelerants and addiction-promoting additives.
The FDA serves and saves the Big Cig Cartel, including the adulterants’ suppliers and all their investors by putting the blame for health disasters on A) a natural plant and B) the victims.
That the FDA is even a little bit trusted to have anything to do with our food is a Big Problem. That even ostensibly wholesome, progressive activist groups fail to expose the FDA for their Cig scam is another problem…and unexplained mystery.
We the people will decide what and where we will eat. The media can stay out of what does not concern them.
Amen
NPR gets much of its funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -those two famous “humanitarians” who happen to also own over 500,000 shares of Monsanto!
Yes, the same Hillary clinton that was in the Rose Law Firm and sat on the Monsanto Counsel. Which, if I am not mistaken, took up and sided with monsanto’s cases.
“Hillary Clinton – Rose Law Firm, Monsanto Counsel – US Senator, Secretary of State – D-NY, Obama”
Is that where she got her honest, compassionate, Christian, loving, Stellar, moral values—monsnoto??
No she got those from murdering those four US diplomats.
No, Monsatan!
I mean, if it is christian to feed hundreds of millions of people cancer-causing chemicals simply to make more value-less paper currency human fabricated profits, then yeah Hillary is a saint in that regard! Pff.
NPR and PBS are also now being funded by the Koch Brothers.
They are even on the board of the Smithsonian; I don’t understand how these old crooks became important. As far as I am concerned they are nothing but petty financial crooks who corrupted the system and don’t have the competency to care about anything other than value-less paper currency that humans fabricated.
Sometimes I wish I could just strangle and or punch the lights out of these so-called “people” … I mean, you can’t talk to them, you can’t convince them they are wrong and they should change. They just need to be gotten rid of.
People keep forgetting that the 1976 movie “Network” is actually a documentary.
You know, this article doesn’t even bring up the fact that Chipotle only claims “Non-GMO” in their wording. This is even more troublesome because that doesn’t mean that conventional crops are any safer than GMO’s because the entire system uses the same mono-cropping industrial agrochemical methods to produce what they peddle. Even conventional crops are dried with Monsanto’s Ready Roundup Herbicide which is Glyphosate and causes cancer. This same residue is what laces 80%+ of the food supply. It is the cause of Parkinson’s, Crohn’s Disease, Colitis, Gluten Intolerance, Celiac Sprue and other diseases such as Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and B-cell Lymphoma. The only way to even attempt to avoid eating these chemicals is to only eat Organic and these corporate scumbags are even trying to ruin that with their synthetic filth. They should be ashamed but they have no human traits and thus are not capable of feeling love, regret, remorse, compassion, empathy, or any of the cognitive faculties that are required to be a true Earth-Dwelling Human and not just some scumbag who only cares to make money and wroughts nothing but pain and anguish onto this world.
OK, in principle I agree with you. However, here in Anaheim, CA I can not find organic at a reasonable price (Ralphs and Trader Joes). Additionally, the choices are very limited (tomatoes). Besides converting the backyard to a garden (because most people here don’t have a back yard) what do you propose to get more organic farming available?
There are options: You can notify the store where you wish to shop that you would like more organic options, you can start a community garden using Heirloom/Non-GMO and organic seeds. Information is key, the more people know about this situation the more action will be taken in a positive direction. Maybe H.E.B will make it to California and provide the organic choices they are here in Texas. The price associated with organics is because it is not subsidized by the taxpayers like the toxic food is so essentially you are paying the real price and not a subsidized one. The point of food is for it to be nutritious and not toxic so really the extra expense is the governments fault. In the 50’s/60’s before Biotech the food simply was organic because that is how it has been for centuries. The chemically intensive agrochemical mono-cropping is not the norm but they are trying to make it so and it is causing the world problems.
If you want organic you have to fight for it because the industry wants to forcefeed you cancerfood instead.
Hold your guns chipotle. Non GMO food is much healthier . Tastier, non poisonous and it’s what people WANT!!
Like I just said in my post below, NON-GMO is NOT better than GMO, it is the same thing just not genetically modified. It is STILL toxic and is NOT safe.
grown in nutrient rich soil.
“Because both GMO and non-GMO chemical-intensive, factory-farmed crops
and foods are dangerous. And both GMO and non-GMO chemical-intensive
foods destroy public health, animal health, soil health and the environment.
They are also the major driving forces behind global warming and climate
change.
GMOs and Roundup, neonicotinoids, 2,4 D, atrazine, glufosinate, and
dicamba—and all the other chemicals being sprayed on the food that we eat, and
ultimately running off into water that we drink—are poison. The major reason
chronic diseases like cancer, autism, diabetes, and obesity, along with reproductive, behavioral, endocrine and
immune system disorders, are spiraling out of control is that our environment is
toxic. We are ingesting—from the womb, to the hospital, to the grave—poisoned,
pesticide-laden food.”
Read Ronnie’s Essay: h t t p s : / / w w w . organicconsumers . org/news/driving-gmos-and-monsantos-roundup-market
Only organic foods are guaranteed to be free of the toxic poisons. Unfortunately, organic foods can be deficient in essential nutrients if essential nutrients are missing from the soil in which they are grown. Foods genetically modified to grow with, and grown with glyphosate are always deficient in all metal nutrients.
http://NoGMO.FarTooMuch.Info …
You didn’t mention how the GMO and NON-GMO variants either have NO nutrition or lack the same nutrition as compared to ORGANICS, not to mention they are toxic.
“GMO Corn has 14 ppm of Calcium and NON GMO corn has 6130 ppm. 437 X more.
GMO corn has 2 ppm of Magnesium and NON GMO corn has 113ppm. 56 X more.
GMO corn has 2 ppm of Manganese and NON GMO corn has 14ppm. 7X more.
Look at the levels of Formaldehyde and Glyphosate IN the corn! The EPA standards for Glyphosate in water in “America” is .7ppm. European Tests showed organ damage to animals at .1ppb (.0001ppm) of Glyphosate in water. Our water levels allow glyphosate 7,000X higher than what has been shown to be toxic in animals. This corn has 13 ppm! 130,000 times higher than what is toxic in water!*
In a study that Dr. Huber reported, on Elizabeth Dougherty’s Talk Radio, .97 ppm of formaldehyde showed to be toxic in ingestion to animals. This corn has 200X that! That is why the animals , given a choice will not eat it at all, they can smell the formaldehyde!
A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry confirmed that tomatoes grown organically contain more phenolic compounds.
A German study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that organically grown apples had a 15 per cent higher antioxidant capacity than their conventional counterparts.
A review by the AFSSA (France’s version of the FDA) concluded that “organic plant products contain more dry matter and minerals — such as iron and magnesium — and more antioxidant polyphenols like phenols and salicylic acid.”
“
This is great! Millions of Americans like Chipotle, and its well-publicized announcement is awakening many people to the GMO issue! For some, this will be a portal to questioning other lies: e.g., the gov’t’s ridiculous story about 9/11!
I’m not trying to burst anyone’s bubble, be happy for Chipotle if you wish, but their food won’t be any better than GMO’s until they switch to ORGANIC.
If they really go GMO free, how can you say their food won’t be any better?
Read my posts below, it explains it.
The only way to avoid these chemicals is by eating Organic. NON-GMO aka Conventional Crops are using the same chemicals and the same system of production that GMOs use, they are just absent of the genetically modified organisms that allow the crops to withstand heavy doses of the chemicals they use.
I partially disagree. Cutting out GMO’s is a step in the right direction. Granted the chemicals are still present, but at least the GMO’s are gone. GMO wheat and corn can be just a bad as the chemicals used on them.
DEFINITELY organic would be the icing on the cake!
It is indeed a step in the right direction, but its the same kind of step the Coyote from the cartoons would attempt to make to get back onto the cliff after he noticed he ran off of it.
Seriously though, it isn’t a *bad* thing but it isn’t quiet *good enough* either and honestly everyone should be demanding Organic over GMO/NON-GMO. Do not settle!
According to a recent article, many food providers who would like to add organic food to their menus are very limited by the availability of organically raised food. the supply chain is erratic. conventional farmers cannot immediately “go organic.” I believe there is a 3 year conversion period.
The last thing the anti-GMO crowd needs is to be linked with 9/11 truthers. That would be used by the pro-GMO crowd to say “see we told you those GMO skeptics are a bunch of tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists”. In that case, progressive sites like Daily Kos would probably be forced to censor any diaries promoting GMO skepticism and ban diarists for promoting GMO skepticism. (Promoting 9/11 skepticism will get you an automatic ban on Daily Kos. And I’ve seen some progressives on Daily Kos call for GMO skeptics to be banned from Kos and “kicked out of the progressive movement”.)
Let me get this straight! We have the freedom to choose our religious beliefs, the freedom of speech, but big Ag/Food are effectively trying to remove are freedom to choose what we eat and feed our children? I can only believe that they are trying to enslave the masses by poisoning us and our children!!
Clearly, not only are they enslaving you (and the rest of the populous), they are also maliciously poisoning you for their own profits.
I recently wrote to Chipotle praising them for going all non-GMO. Told them they are my new “go to” restaurant. I was surprised to get a huge thank you response from them. Believe me, they are listening.
If they went full certified organic and fair trade they would be a lot of peoples “go-to” restaurant, possibly even mine. I haven’t gone out to eat in years after learning about all of the conventional and gmo food being toxic. I avoid all processed conventional foods.
The best way to combat the negative media spin of Time, NPR, and The Washington Post is to let them know that you will not buy their product, or support their future fund raising activities. Furthermore, you should urge your friends to contact these entities and do the same. Perhaps if they realize that there will be negative financial consequences to their misguided propaganda efforts, they will at least be silent in the future on these issues.
The best way to combat the propaganda machine is to point out their lies and provide the evidence as such. Spreading this information is paramount to success because once everyone in the world knows what these companies are doing there will be too many people that will not stand for it or allow it to continue happening which is exactly what the system doesn’t want. The system wants to continue to perpetrate its monopoly and it would prefer you be none the wiser while they do it.
Chant to our corporate-owned-and-operated media: I don’t do no GMO!!!!
And I will gladly boycott restaurants that don’t go GMO-free, and give my business to those that do.
The media have been bent double with head in the sand, bum in the air, being rogered by big Ag, for at least two generation..
Unable to take action on both items due to the site’s requirement that I change my browser’s security settings. Hope ANH can get this fixed!