Double M,
Only way I heard of is for people that once ate it and then stopped. They have the option of being matir neder and revert. So if a sefardi became a lubab, he can revert to sephardi customs and get rid of the chumras. Would like to know more about the Cacham Ovadiah ruling.

Though most of the restrictions are based on facts that are non existent today, once they became common minhagim, getting rid of them is virtually impossible.

Strangely enough, potatoes weren’t allowed in Vilna during the times preceding the Vilna Gaon, apparently they found a heter one year due to a hunger.

Also interesting to note, is that both kitniyot and gebroks both came from the same German rabbi, namely the “smak” that lived about 700 years ago. Other Ashkenazic authorities later concurred.

Another interesting thing about minhag hamakom, is that America’s first Jews were sefardim escaping the inquisition. The first known American shul was in Rhode Island, apparently built with an escape tunnel under the shtender. Looks like the Ashkenazis “hijacked” the continent in halachic terms. Accordingly, we should really be eating rice and lamb for the seder. Hopefully next year in Jerusalem.

The people who are doing this, though, are also rebelling against the increasing stringencies (and idiocies, IMHO) regarding the whole practice of avoiding kitniyot. It is a gezerah and so by its terms we are not supposed to add to it – once again, that’s halacha. A generation ago, everyone ate peanuts on Pesach. Now, it is accepted that they are kitniyot. Cottonseed oil has just joined the list. Quinoa is in dispute. How can quinoa be kitniyot? Nobody ate it until 15 years ago, how can we have a tradition not to eat it? Also, it’s a fruit, not a grain. But it looks kinda like kitniyot, and it tastes kinda like kitniyot, and so TPTB have decided that it is. And even if you don’t agree, good luck finding KFP quinoa now. One rabbi this year called on people not to eat tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants because they have seeds.

So people are fed up. I predict that within a generation, MOs in Israel will be eating kitniyot. The haredim won’t do it, of course. And chutz la’aretz is another issue, because the Israelis won’t call it rebellion against the rabbis, we’ll call it joining in the prevailing minhag of our new home (which it is). But it wouldn’t have happened if the (haredi) rabbinate hadn’t gone crazy to the point that Pesach is more about avoiding kitniyot than it is about avoiding hametz. Will the rabbis learn from this? Interesting question.

I think the stickler for those who are anti-kitniyot ban is that you’re not supposed to “turn away from the traditions of your fathers,” and that’s the big crux of the whole thing. It’s been done so long, as tradition — whether halakic or not — and the rabbis are sticklers for tradition.

TRADITION!