I just returned from Planet Organic. It was a failed outing to source some 37% unpasteurized cream from a local dairy, in order to make cultured butter [thanks Melissa, for the inspiration]. They were out. How disappointing. Another day, I guess.
It was under the roof of Planet Organic that I coined the term ‘dumbass tax’. Tax, that only those that are dumbasses, pay. I’m not implying that everything they stock is like that – ‘that’ being overpriced nearly for the sake of being so – as they have some great food items. But they have their share of stock with the big D-tax not listed on the price tag. The best I can do right now for an example is I noticed while waiting in line that their blueberries, which are in season and cheap right now everywhere else, were $56 for a 5 kilo box there. Yikes. D-tax. There are better examples though, and I’m resolved to try to find a keeper next visit.
The lady in front of me at the cashier made me contemplate another thing about ‘organic’. I love my organic eggs. I grow my own veg sans fertilizers or pesticides. I hunt my own wild meat. But I never associated ‘organic’ with ‘junk food’. This lady, who was rather large [forgiven after I realized she was very pregnant], was buying many bags of various organic hi-cal junk foods. Made me think ‘do people who do all their shopping here assume that because it says ‘organic’ on the package, that it’s healthy?’. So a disclaimer to the world: organic foods have as many calories as non-organic foods.
And as my turn neared in line, I was stunned by a product being sold at the till. Vegan organic spicy chicken jerky. Why? Does the vegan miss tearing at that raw, dried, meat flesh? Do they miss the textural nuance of the tissue between their teeth? The chewiness of dried animal muscle? I don’t get it. Feel free to educate me.