Chipotle Revisted, Politco-Economically

The longer I write this blog, the more I wonder how much our food culture is just an extension of our values, and in particular, how our values are shaped/manipulated/influenced by economic interest. There is a weird disconnect on the right, where they champion "family values" and the nuclear family, but when it comes to talking about how the need for 2 incomes per family has devalued the role of the stay-at-home mom and increased the need for socialized daycare, or talking about how the lack of a living wage for the least skilled workers among us directly leads to family instability and divorce,...nothing, just a buzzing/clicking sound, no one home.

It is the right-leaning libertarians who take great comfort on the so-called "invisible hand of the market" deciding all sorts of issues, and nothing is so clearly market-based than the supply and demand of fast food. So it's with particular amazement that I've read reports recently that Chipotle's choice to remove pig meat (excuse me, "carnitas") from their menu when they found their suppliers not living up to their ethical standards has had a real bottom-line effect on their otherwise voracious growth over the past few years. Letting ethics stand in the way of growth is very contrary to American-style 'profit at all cost' capitalism. Or maybe I'm just too cynical? Or maybe the board of this publicly traded company will force the issue and risk alienating some of Chipotle's consumers by redefining what "ethical" means for the sake of the bottom line. I'm curious where this story is heading.

Another trend bucking the state of American-style capitalism is the pay that the workers at Chipotle and other fast food joints will be receiving in the next few years in New York.

The labor protest movement that fast-food workers in New York City began nearly three years ago has led to higher wages for workers all across the country. On Wednesday, it paid off for the people who started it.
A panel appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recommended on Wednesday that the minimum wage be raised for employees of fast-food chain restaurants throughout the state to $15 an hour over the next few years. Wages would be raised faster in New York City than in the rest of the state to account for the higher cost of living there.
The panel’s recommendations, which are expected to be put into effect by an order of the state’s acting commissioner of labor, represent a major triumph for the advocates who have rallied burger-flippers and fry cooks to demand pay that covers their basic needs. They argued that taxpayers were subsidizing the workforces of some multinational corporations, like McDonald’s, that were not paying enough to keep their workers from relying on food stamps and other welfare benefits.
The $15 wage would represent a raise of more than 70 percent for workers earning the state’s current minimum wage of $8.75 an hour. Advocates for low-wage workers said they believed the mandate would quickly spur raises for employees in other industries across the state, and a jubilant Mr. Cuomo predicted that other states would follow his lead.

Paying money to people who will spend it immediately will only put a shot of energy into the local economy - that's Economics 101, if I remember correctly. But if you're talking class-warfare, then it's definitely a point on the side of the unwashed masses and an alarming trend for those in power. Unsurprisingly....

The restaurant industry has chafed at these decisions. “We continue to say that we think it’s unfair that they singled out a single segment of our industry,” Melissa Fleischut, the executive director of the New York State Restaurant Association, said.

I agree. Because of the politics involved, a general raise of the minimum wage for all could not be created, but a singling out of the largest minimum-wage industry could. Still, I can't help but shed a crocodile tear for poor McDonalds, who can't seem to get anything right nowadays. Maybe they should try to start replanting the rainforests in Brazil their beef-suppliers destroyed and start touting sustainably raised burgers? At least we could feel good about their slowly crumbling empire!

Know your Pigmeat.

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2670

No bike riding for the foreseeable future. All the tests should be in next week that'll hopefully diagnosis the extent of my injury.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2570

SLEPT: 9pm-6am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 10:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: noon, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 3:30pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat bread, pickles,  momma salad, 620 cal

DINNER: 7pm, Stouffer's French Bread Pizzas, poppa salad with dressing, 1040 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, watermelon, +/- 300 cal
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2450

SLEPT: 9pm-6am, 9hrs

AM SNACK: 6:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, age yogurt wit honey, vanilla, almonds, 450 cal

PM SNACK: noon, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, poppa salad with dressing, veggie straws, 330 cal

DINNER: 7pm, flounder, asparagus, snippets of boiled corn and kraft mac n cheese, +/-700 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, popcorn, +/- 500 cal

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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2720

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11pm, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 3pm, sauteed shrimp and mushrooms, poppa salad with dressing, 700 cal

PM SNACK: 3:45pm, momma salad, 310 cal

DINNER: 8pm, Chipotle Burrito, diet coke, ice cream, +/- 1100 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: 2760

SLEPT: 10:30am-6:30am, 8 hours

AM SNACK: 6:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 7:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, fage yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:45pm, chicken meatballs, steamed stringbeans, lentil curry, pickle, 640 cal

PM SNACK: 3pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 5:45pm, poppa salad with dressing, 200 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, gyoza & ramen, chocolate cookie, +/- 1000 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2850

SLEPT: 10:30pm-6:30am, 8 hours

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am,  fage yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal

LUNCH: 1:30pm, almond butter and grape jelly on whole wheat bread, pickles 530 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, hotdog, fries, ice cream +/- 1000 cal

DINNER 2: 6:30pm, slice of pizza, +/- 400 cal