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.