Whole Foods, current masters of WTF shopping (Whole Foods tattoos and asparagus water, anyone?), are under some serious heat for selling individually packaged, pre-peeled oranges. Granted, if they had just left the oranges in their peels, then there would be no need for the incredibly wasteful use of brutally un-biodegradable material — but we’d also miss out on this ultimate SMH shopping moment. And, honestly, we’re pretty entertained by the judge + jury that is Twitter giving the product its own incredulous response.
If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them. pic.twitter.com/00YECaHB4D
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) March 3, 2016
“If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn’t need to waste so much plastic on them,” tweeted London-based Nathalie Gordon yesterday, along with the now-viral pic which has received more than 60,000 retweets and just as many likes.
Reactions to the pic were frustrated and fierce.
@awlilnatty Fucking hell. That makes me unbelievably angry actually. Talk about necessarily contributing to plastic taking over the planet.
— Swiftie Be (@StephanieBe) March 3, 2016
@awlilnatty @RalphScenic Have we gotten that lazy and crazy that we can't even peel our own orange? The insanity never stops.
— Suzi ♫ (@MessMakerPro) March 3, 2016
Although some pointed out that it actually is handy for those who might have disabilities that prevent them from peeling the oranges.
.@awlilnatty While I share your concern for the environment and wish they'd found more biodegradable packing this is great for disabled ppl
— Kim Sauder (@crippledscholar) March 4, 2016
And then there are the people who just kinda seem lazy.
@awlilnatty @MShapland this seems pretty handy actually – I hate un-peeling oranges and that's 90% of the reason I don't eat them
— @r4vi (@r4vi) March 3, 2016
Whatever each individual shopper might think, Whole Foods absolutely heard the outcry.
@awlilnatty Definitely our mistake. These have been pulled. We hear you, and we will leave them in their natural packaging: the peel.
— Whole Foods Market (@WholeFoods) March 3, 2016
Do you like pre-packed fruit, or is this just too much? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t Eater; photo via Nathalie Gordon/Twitter)