Grazing the Net: Chipotle, again (sigh)
We tried. Really!
We tried ignoring Chipotle for a day but they just won't let us. Within the swirl of E. coli and norovirus-tainted burritos,
and seemingly oblivious to the dragnet that captured one of its executives in a drug sting,
Chipotle has released another animated advertisement.
And just like its predecessors, this one doesn't stray far from the nauseating theme that Chipotle's competitors are immoral and "Big Ag" is bad. This film is a love story about a couple who become competitors in a modern, fast-food world, "encrusting sprinkles on tacos in a super-factory you can't even navigate on your own, and leaving your dog to sleep in a cardboard box on the outskirts of your own city." As AdWeek so aptly describes the plot, "That's what happens when you grow up and make money: You exchange flesh-and-blood companions for conveyor belts and robot microwaves." Unless, of course, your name is Mark Crumpacker, and you made $4.28 million last year as your employer tumbled into a widely-publicized food safety crisis.
In that case, you allegedly order cocaine home-delivered. That's what prosecutors allege in the indictment against Crumpacker and the 18 "repeat customers" of a cocaine-delivery service. Bloomberg noted that Crumpacker's alleged buys square-up with some of the company's worst days of 2016.
GMO confusion
If we've learned anything from Congress the past few years, we should know deadlines don't matter. Vermont's GMO-labeling law went into effect last Friday. The Senate has wrangled with comprehensive GMO-labeling legislation for months that would supersede Vermont's law, and finally today they are set to vote - on whether to allow a vote.
Meanwhile, folks in Vermont are celebrating the new law, and maybe recognizing some of the unintended consequences. For instance, retailers found out manufacturers would stop sending 3,000 products to the state. Many popular brands will no longer appear in grocery stores, ranging from Pepsi Wild Cherry to whole wheat hot dog buns.
WCAX reports the average Price Chopper sells 35,000 items. Losing 3,000 is 10 percent of their inventory, leaving some experts to worry whether less competition will breed higher prices. "You now have less choice for consumers," said Robert Letovsky, a professor of business at St. Michael's College. "Less choice means less competition, inevitably prices are going to rise."
Pigs rescued from flood
Torrential rains across southern China left thousands of hogs stuck
in their pens
in standing water up to their snouts. Sanitation regulations prevented the Anhui Province farmer from releasing the pigs, but photos of the pigs' plight went viral and dozens of volunteers rescued the pigs. China Daily reports the pigs in the photos were saved, but as many as 160,000 at other farms perished in the flooding.
Brexit could unleash 'dominoes' in ag markets
The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union could "unleash a series of dominoes" across ag markets, says Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition. "Where the end of that leads, it really is up to debate," Steenhoek tells "Top Producer Podcast" host Pam Fretwell in an interview airing this week on My Farm Radio and Apple's Podcast app. "But the net result is greater unpredictability." Producers likely will see the implications of Brexit in the form of market volatility and competitive challenges for ag products abroad.
