NY Times opinion: A Seismic Shift in How People Eat

[closeupready]

19. Hmm, that's an interesting theory. Would not be surprised if some

of them are trying to get ahead of the curve.

Look at McDonald's. It did so well for so many years ... and now they are losing market share, profits tumbling, stores closing, etc. The numbers got so alarming that last year they announced an end to publication of their internal numbers, which they had voluntarily published to date.

Part of their decline (and others like them) lies in the fact that consumers have drifted towards food producers who cast appeals to those who want to eat more naturally produced burgers and fries and even hot dogs (non-GMO, no antibiotics, free-range chicken, etc.). For example, Five Guys - they have a placard next to the cashier in their restaurants indicating the geographic area where their potatoes (for fries) have come from (i.e., "Ketchum, Idaho&quot . While in isolation that doesn't tell you much, the theme here is to address questions, 'what is this? what are its ingredients? does it have preservatives? is it pink slime or grade A?'

So I do think that the emerging consumer alarm over potentially harmful food additives is driving some (or most) of these changes.