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News & ArtsMonday, November 24, 2008
Chow Tara Parker-Pope Gets It Wrong
Posted by Erica C. Barnett on Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 3:15 PM
On the NYTimes' Well blog, health writer Tara Parker-Pope asks whether it makes sense to pay extra for an organic Thanksgiving. The shocking conclusion? "It may cost you ... as much as $100 extra." The "organic premium"—actually more than $125, for a meal serving eight—came from an analysis by SmartMoney magazine, which went to three Manhattan supermarkets in search of organic and non-organic items for a hypothetical Thanksgiving meal.
Let's assume for the moment that the magazine's numbers are right—that buying organic is going to cost you substantially more than a conventional Thanksgiving. With budgets tightening, there any argument for sticking with organics? Parker-Pope concludes that the answer is, basically, no. Avoid the worst pesticide offenders, she suggests—among them apples, milk, and celery—and you're fine buying the ordinary grocery-store versions of everything else.
She's wrong. First of all, there's a basic problem with SmartMoney's pricing. Anyone who buys organics on a regular basis will find the prices the magazine cited suspiciously high. For example, their 20-pound turkey cost $4.99 a pound, compared to a dollar-a-pound conventional Butterball. I ordered my own organic turkey from the local PCC, and it cost just $3.49 a pound—a difference of $30. Even a heritage turkey was cheaper. Wine prices, similarly, seemed arbitrary—$24 a bottle for organic, vs. $17 for non-organic. Even at the Manhattan Whole Foods—where they shopped for many of the organic items—I'm betting you can find plenty of good organic wines for less than $24.
But leaving aside the question of price itself, Parker-Pope's whole premise—that if you can avoid pesticides, you might as well buy conventional—assumes that the only benefits of buying organic are individual health benefits. This ignores many other benefits of buying organic—only some of them selfish.
First, Butterball turkeys (a breed known as Broad-Breasted White that makes up 99 percent of turkeys consumed in the United States) are seriously disgusting. Plumped up with hormones and made top-heavy by genetic engineering, they're raised in filthy, crowded cages where they suffer for the duration of their artificially short lives. They're too front-loaded to have sex, so they have to be inseminated by hand; if they lived longer than a year, they would be unable to forage, walk, or fly. Mass production has made most turkeys we consume essentially tasteless; hence the advent of the "self-basting" turkey—an injection of salt water that mimics the juiciness of naturally raised, free-range turkey meat. So there's a selfish reason to buy organic and heritage turkey—it tastes better! Same goes for local, organic produce—there's a reason subscriptions to Community Supported Agriculture programs have been skyrocketing in recent years (despite some naysayers who don't like the quantities or selection of their local CSAs), and it isn't just altruism or nostalgia for family farms. Celery from a local, organic farm just tastes more like celery than anything you've ever imagined could be possible (or tomatoes, or winter squash, or whatever).
Beyond your individual dining experience, though, there's the fact that supporting organic farms actually helps the whole food system—and, in time, will make organic produce less expensive. Buying organic produce from community farms helps preserve farmland from sprawl and sustains local businesses. Buying organics from big corporations is more controversial (because it arguably opens the door for more-lax standards and Big Ag driving out family farms), but even that argument may be beside the point—after announcing plans to double its organic food selection in 2006, Wal-Mart retreated from its big organic push just one year later, citing the failure of a larger strategy to lure in "high-end" consumers.
1
It is one goddamn meal that is already expensive as it is. Fuck organic farming. This is just a food version of "DUDE LET'S NOT BUY GAS FOR ONE DAY AND SHOW THOSE OIL GUYS!!!!"
2
Sometimes organic isn't necessarily better. I bought some organic eggs from Trader Joe's and I also bought some Broadview Farms brown eggs from Greenwood Market. The Broadview farms eggs were everything but organic. All veg feed, cage-free, no antibiotics, blah, blah, blah.
Well side by side comparison of the yolks showed Broadview farms to be much higher quality. Bigger, bright-orange next to pale yellow for Trader Joe's. I just wonder how organic Trader Joe's is.
Well side by side comparison of the yolks showed Broadview farms to be much higher quality. Bigger, bright-orange next to pale yellow for Trader Joe's. I just wonder how organic Trader Joe's is.
3
Erica, while I agree that factory farm turkey is gross, use of hormones in raising poultry is prohibited by the FDA, so calling them "plumped up by hormones" is inaccurate.
4
"Organic wine" is usually shit, and frequently fraudulent. This is because you're allowed to use the word "organic" if your grapes are grown organically (which is, in the US, FAR, FAR from naturally), but it says nothing about your wine-making process, which can use all the usual disgusting additives that even expensive wine has in it -- not just sulfites, which are traditional and sometimes natural, but fining agents, wood chips, oak extract, added acid, etc. etc., not to mention the industrial processes -- the filtering, microoxegenation, yadda yadda. So "organic" wines are frequently no more natural than non-organic ones, especially in the US. And they frequently lack the traditional wine-making skill and care.
If you want natural wine, look for the "biodynamic" label. Biodynamic processes involve a lot of total hogwash (planting by the moon, burying cow horns full of shit in your fields) but they are by definition fully natural -- unirrigated, additive-free, unindustrial.
Or you could just by decent French wine. They're adopting evil New World industrial habits all the time, but they're still the most natural wines around. Try a good Beaujolais -- NOT the Beaujolais Noveau crap, but a nice Broilly or Morgon, or something from the Loire, a Chinon or Saumur red.
If you want natural wine, look for the "biodynamic" label. Biodynamic processes involve a lot of total hogwash (planting by the moon, burying cow horns full of shit in your fields) but they are by definition fully natural -- unirrigated, additive-free, unindustrial.
Or you could just by decent French wine. They're adopting evil New World industrial habits all the time, but they're still the most natural wines around. Try a good Beaujolais -- NOT the Beaujolais Noveau crap, but a nice Broilly or Morgon, or something from the Loire, a Chinon or Saumur red.
5
Anyone else see Mike Rowe inseminate turkeys on Dirty Jobs? With a straw?
I appreciate organic food, I do, but having been raised on a diet of fish sticks and fruit cocktail in Southeast Alaska only to grow up into a big, healthy human being leads me to believe that the reason there is cheap turkey and expensive turkey is because some people are willing to pay 350% more for their food.
Part of me thinks that the whole pricey organic food rodeo is another indicator that our economy was long overdue to be taken down a peg.
I appreciate organic food, I do, but having been raised on a diet of fish sticks and fruit cocktail in Southeast Alaska only to grow up into a big, healthy human being leads me to believe that the reason there is cheap turkey and expensive turkey is because some people are willing to pay 350% more for their food.
Part of me thinks that the whole pricey organic food rodeo is another indicator that our economy was long overdue to be taken down a peg.
6
Plumped or not, my Safeway turkey was 30 CENTS a pound, and I got one free to boot. We ate one last night (since I don't have freezer room for 2 turkeys), and it was fucking tasty.
The second turkey is going to charity, if that absolves me at all.
The second turkey is going to charity, if that absolves me at all.
7
I'm pretty sure there must be something wrong with the food in Alaska. Or the water. Or the air. It is definitely something.
8
Erica, stop being stupid about the prices being off. You act as if ORGANIC FOOD IN MANHATTAN WOULD BE THE SAME AS PCC! WHY ARE YOU BEING DELIBERATELY STUPID? YOU'RE BETTING?!? SO YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY CONTRADICTORY INFORMATION, JUST HUNCHES?
Do you see why we label you a hack? Do you see why we shit on your integrity? It's because of lame brain attempts at analysis like this.
The only good reasons to buy organic are taste and environment. What else do you even need? Trying to play down price is like vegans trying to play up meat and dairy alternative tastes. Like fucking vegan pizza. It will never in a million years rival the taste of a NYC pizza with real meat and cheese. EVER. Period! And such an argument is never going to convince anyone to eat vegan food as a replacement for meat and dairy food. So you play up the other good things about vegan food.
Saying that a butterball isn't that much less expensive because some people who actually went out and price shopped in Manhattan arrived at 4.99 while you in seattle got one for 3.49, is a stupid point.
Do you see why we label you a hack? Do you see why we shit on your integrity? It's because of lame brain attempts at analysis like this.
The only good reasons to buy organic are taste and environment. What else do you even need? Trying to play down price is like vegans trying to play up meat and dairy alternative tastes. Like fucking vegan pizza. It will never in a million years rival the taste of a NYC pizza with real meat and cheese. EVER. Period! And such an argument is never going to convince anyone to eat vegan food as a replacement for meat and dairy food. So you play up the other good things about vegan food.
Saying that a butterball isn't that much less expensive because some people who actually went out and price shopped in Manhattan arrived at 4.99 while you in seattle got one for 3.49, is a stupid point.
10
Free Range Turkey is still just Free Range Murder. Just because the death row prisoners are allowed out into the exercise yard doesn't change the fact that they're going to die. Solidarity!
14
From Trader Joe's flyer:
So all natural turkey from trader joe's for a cheaper price.
So starting November 14th, expect
spectacular displays as we bring in a
limited selection of the freshest, highest
quality All Natural Turkeys. Our
birds never receive any antibiotics
or growth hormones, are minimally
processed with NO artificial ingredients
and have been raised on 100%
vegetarian feed. They are delivered
to us fresh (never frozen) from U.S.
farms. And they come brined with
all natural sea salt or Kosher salt, to
ensure juicy, tender meat. (We did
say, “highest quality.”) Of course,
we don’t believe that should preclude
unrivaled value. So we’re selling our
Fresh, Young, Brined All Natural
Turkeys for $1.79 per pound (birds
ranging in size from 12-20 lbs) and
our Fresh, Young, Glatt Kosher
All Natural Turkeys for $2.29 per
pound (12-16 lb birds). Some might
consider it patriotism, others good
trade, but regardless, it’s a boon to
all who partake. So don’t be a turkey!
(Now that was goading...)
So all natural turkey from trader joe's for a cheaper price.
15
buy local, eat local. In Madison there is the Farmer's Market-April to November. Winter market at the Monona Terrace and finally market at the Senior Center-where you can get an awesome home cooked meal with "fresh that day" ingredients. Buy something, even if it's a few potatoes to fry up. It is so important to support organic, local farmers.
16
The Broad Breasted White is "top heavy" as a result of selective breeding, a.k.a. animal husbandry, a technique which has been around almost as long as domestication and farming. It is not "genetic engineering." But I guess animal husbandry isn't as scary.
18
@11 I find it kind of humorous that those turkeys are acting sort of like people that are at raves and under the influence of MDMA. That neck craning thing...I've seen it.
19
ECB, is that The Kitchn post you linked to really a depiction of "naysayers"? The Kitchn has done most to promote healthy and green eating -- and that includes a strong reduction in the amount of meat we consume -- than nearly any other source. Their blog is great for goodies like me. They weren't "naysayers," they were simply giving a fair review. What would you do with four weeks of beets?
You probably didn't mean "naysayers," but that word has a pretty negative connotation. Instead of "despite some naysayers don't like the selection" why not "though some don't like the selection"?
You probably didn't mean "naysayers," but that word has a pretty negative connotation. Instead of "despite some naysayers don't like the selection" why not "though some don't like the selection"?
21
I keep eating food from my brand-new CSA subscription and going, "holy shit, this is what [food] is supposed to taste like!" I'm happy to pay for food that tastes good and was grown in a sustainable way.
22
"Plumped up with hormones and made top-heavy by genetic engineering"
Both of these statements are FALSE!
No hormones have been approved for use in turkeys. NONE!
And large turkeys are the result of traditional BREEDING! Just like large Bell Peppers (look up Tepin to see what peppers use to look like). Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism's genes.
golob should of spoken up. shame.
Both of these statements are FALSE!
No hormones have been approved for use in turkeys. NONE!
And large turkeys are the result of traditional BREEDING! Just like large Bell Peppers (look up Tepin to see what peppers use to look like). Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism's genes.
golob should of spoken up. shame.
23
golob is in the tank for stupid leftist bullshit so obviously he couldn't be bothered to correct ECB on her misguided rantings. How you like your government bailout now GOLOB!
24
At my nursing home we will be served a low-grade "Turkey Dinner" that would make a Swanson TV dinner seem like gourmet.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
25
@21: I'm having the same epiphanies with my brand-new SPUD subscription. (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery, www.spud.com). They'll put together a box of produce each week of in-season fruit and veg from local farms and leave it outside your apartment door. You can add or subtract as much as you want, but I appreciate their ideas! Didn't know what kale was, didn't know what chard was, still don't know what "sugar loaf squash" is.
Real tomatoes again--it's been so long.
Each box comes with a list of its contents (bill of lading?) and how many miles that produce had to be driven. They say most U.S. produce travels an average of 1500 miles; SPUD Seattle's is more like 300 miles.
Real tomatoes again--it's been so long.
Each box comes with a list of its contents (bill of lading?) and how many miles that produce had to be driven. They say most U.S. produce travels an average of 1500 miles; SPUD Seattle's is more like 300 miles.
26
@8 and @22 FTW
ECB seriously you get paid for being such a moron?
Your continued exploitation of oxygen on this planet is a disgrace to our species
How is it that somehow your genetics got this far into evolution?
ECB seriously you get paid for being such a moron?
Your continued exploitation of oxygen on this planet is a disgrace to our species
How is it that somehow your genetics got this far into evolution?
27
@ Whatever: Butterball turkeys absolutely are treated with growth hormones, as well as antibiotics--to prevent diseases common among animals kept confined in small spaces with no air or light. And whoever said it's not genetic engineering is right - it's selective breeding, which still produces a turkey that couldn't survive if it wasn't slaughtered within a year because its body is so breast-heavy. I'm not changing my post, though, because I actually get paid to make you guys go apoplectic. So thanks!
28
@27
The Stranger should hire a writer who gets paid to communicate factual information. They could call them a "reporter" or something like that.
The Stranger should hire a writer who gets paid to communicate factual information. They could call them a "reporter" or something like that.
29
Until there's a consistent and useful definition of organic, you might as well be burning your money. Too many things count as organic that have no benefit to the consumer.
30
i agree that the fundamental flaw in the reasoning of this post is that the price shopping occurred in manhattan, and that's a pretty obvious error, but sheesh you guys, where does this vitriol for ecb come from?
however, even in new york you can shop organically and locally for cheap. right across the street from the union square whole foods is a farmers market where i get veggies all the time. this past weekend i got two bags full of vegetables and herbs for less than ten dollars. there are farmers markets all over the city too. i haven't looked for turkey yet, so that might be a whole other issue, but my feeling is that laziness is what makes grocery shopping expensive for most people, not organics.
however, even in new york you can shop organically and locally for cheap. right across the street from the union square whole foods is a farmers market where i get veggies all the time. this past weekend i got two bags full of vegetables and herbs for less than ten dollars. there are farmers markets all over the city too. i haven't looked for turkey yet, so that might be a whole other issue, but my feeling is that laziness is what makes grocery shopping expensive for most people, not organics.
31
Organic food does cost more, bottom line. That's not to say that there aren't terrific reasons for going organic beyond the nutritional value and taste (as you mentioned, it supports a whole farming system). But it's still pricey.
However, many things are organic that cannot be sold as such because getting organic certification is quite pricey, and buying organic is no guarantee of responsible farming. For instance, Horizon organic milk (which I happen to love the taste of) is from a HUGE organic dairy operation that feeds its cows organic corn, not organically maintained grass (their cattle are not pastured). As we all know, cattle don't do as well health-wise on corn as they do on grass. So here you TECHNICALLY have organic milk that is still deficient in terms the big-picture farming underlying it.
Organic bananas: because of the peels, conventional bananas are just as safe, but both items have huge carbon footprints because bananas must be flown to the United States from tropical regions, except for spots in Hawaii and Florida where they can grow locally.
Anyway, my point is that organic doesn't mean much on its own, and the bottom line is that things that are technically or officially organic almost always cost more than a similar conventional product.
However, many things are organic that cannot be sold as such because getting organic certification is quite pricey, and buying organic is no guarantee of responsible farming. For instance, Horizon organic milk (which I happen to love the taste of) is from a HUGE organic dairy operation that feeds its cows organic corn, not organically maintained grass (their cattle are not pastured). As we all know, cattle don't do as well health-wise on corn as they do on grass. So here you TECHNICALLY have organic milk that is still deficient in terms the big-picture farming underlying it.
Organic bananas: because of the peels, conventional bananas are just as safe, but both items have huge carbon footprints because bananas must be flown to the United States from tropical regions, except for spots in Hawaii and Florida where they can grow locally.
Anyway, my point is that organic doesn't mean much on its own, and the bottom line is that things that are technically or officially organic almost always cost more than a similar conventional product.
32
@ 14:
The Trader Joe's blurb that their "all natural" turkeys are raised on "100% vegetarian feed" is such a lie.
If turkeys really are raised on "100% vegetarian feed," then they are being raised on wire or on concrete, and therefore are hardly "all natural."
If they get to walk around on the ground, they are eating bugs, worms, slugs, and larvae, which means they are not eating a "100% vegetarian" diet.
Chickens, turkeys, and ducks are omnivores, just like hogs, rats, bears, and people with half a brain are. They eat meat when they can get it -- meat to a turkey being bugs, worms, slugs, and larvae.
So if you're eating a pasture-raised chicken or turkey, and whoever sold it to you told you that bird was a vegetarian, they're lying.
The Trader Joe's blurb that their "all natural" turkeys are raised on "100% vegetarian feed" is such a lie.
If turkeys really are raised on "100% vegetarian feed," then they are being raised on wire or on concrete, and therefore are hardly "all natural."
If they get to walk around on the ground, they are eating bugs, worms, slugs, and larvae, which means they are not eating a "100% vegetarian" diet.
Chickens, turkeys, and ducks are omnivores, just like hogs, rats, bears, and people with half a brain are. They eat meat when they can get it -- meat to a turkey being bugs, worms, slugs, and larvae.
So if you're eating a pasture-raised chicken or turkey, and whoever sold it to you told you that bird was a vegetarian, they're lying.
33
The argument isn't organic v. inorganic, in my humble opinion, but fresh v. not fresh. I've paid a premium for some organic products in the past that were just fucking terrible. Unbeknown to me at the time, I paid $20/lb. for organic chicken salad once, and it was the most boring chicken salad I can remember. Nothing beats a fresh-laid egg, for instance - even an organic one that's been sitting in refrigeration for a week. I do suspect. however, that a naturally-raised chicken produces better eggs than those poor old dears on the assembly line.
I have to agree with earlier comments that suggest Whole Foods (Capers in Canada) is, for the most part, a rip-off, and I bet the chain suffers greatly as we head into hard times.
I have to agree with earlier comments that suggest Whole Foods (Capers in Canada) is, for the most part, a rip-off, and I bet the chain suffers greatly as we head into hard times.
34
@32,
If those turkeys were free range, I'm sure that Trader Joe's would have mentioned it as they can charge an even greater premium for those birds. So, those turkeys are likely being raised on wire and concrete.
And a major appeal for the all vegetarian diet is consumers' concern over animals being fed ground up cattle, pork, and poultry byproducts in addition to chicken feces, not whether those animals sucked down a worm or three.
If those turkeys were free range, I'm sure that Trader Joe's would have mentioned it as they can charge an even greater premium for those birds. So, those turkeys are likely being raised on wire and concrete.
And a major appeal for the all vegetarian diet is consumers' concern over animals being fed ground up cattle, pork, and poultry byproducts in addition to chicken feces, not whether those animals sucked down a worm or three.
35
@2, maybe "pale yellow" is the natural color for egg yolks and the "bright orange" of the "everything-but-organic" brand is the result of excess carotene from the EDB-soaked carrot peelings in the "all-veg feed."
It's stupid to think that color has anything at all to do with nutrition or wholesomeness. Sometimes there's a correlation, sometimes there's not.
And brown-shelled eggs are not more nutritious than white-shelled ones.
It's stupid to think that color has anything at all to do with nutrition or wholesomeness. Sometimes there's a correlation, sometimes there's not.
And brown-shelled eggs are not more nutritious than white-shelled ones.
36
@14 and "All Natural" turkey buyers -
I'm with 34 and 32, that TJ's ad doesn't mention anything about the other conditions for the turkey that are more important - was it at least cage free? Free range? Or, ideally, raised in a pasture? Were its beak and toenails cut off? Could it sleep on a perch like birds are supposed to (do you sleep standing up? didn't think so). were the lights turned off at night? What breed was it - was it bred to be a breast-heavy, crippled monster?
It's good that "All Natural" is attracting customers, but it could be just a sleazy, distracting marketing technique.
And the NY Times does have a (better?) opinion piece on what to consider when buying a turkey:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht…
BTW, TJ's is kinda starting to give me the creeps. It is 99% pre-packaged goods imported from all over the world. Not the greatest environmental footprint.
Examples: all produce is packaged (what a waste), much of their meat is from other CONTINENTS.
I'm with 34 and 32, that TJ's ad doesn't mention anything about the other conditions for the turkey that are more important - was it at least cage free? Free range? Or, ideally, raised in a pasture? Were its beak and toenails cut off? Could it sleep on a perch like birds are supposed to (do you sleep standing up? didn't think so). were the lights turned off at night? What breed was it - was it bred to be a breast-heavy, crippled monster?
It's good that "All Natural" is attracting customers, but it could be just a sleazy, distracting marketing technique.
And the NY Times does have a (better?) opinion piece on what to consider when buying a turkey:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht…
BTW, TJ's is kinda starting to give me the creeps. It is 99% pre-packaged goods imported from all over the world. Not the greatest environmental footprint.
Examples: all produce is packaged (what a waste), much of their meat is from other CONTINENTS.
37
Having lived in both Seattle and New York, I can see where Tara Parker-Pope is coming from -- in Manhattan, buying organic is *a lot* more expensive than buying regular food unless you're buying from the previously mentioned Union Square farmer's market (which during the holidays is a total nightmare -- think Pike Place after three cruise ships just came in). The cheapest gallon of organic milk at Fairway (which is the cheapest grocery store I found while I was living there) was about seven dollars. If New Yorkers can afford it, of course they should shop organic, but if they can't, I don't think they should feel guilty.
That said, Seattle prices are totally different, and if I could shop organic here while living on minimum wage, then so can everyone else.
That said, Seattle prices are totally different, and if I could shop organic here while living on minimum wage, then so can everyone else.
38
@27, at least you recognize you're a paid troll, not a journalist. The good news for the rest of is is that you've hit the ceiling on your career and we know how to avoid you.
39
@27 - Whatever yourself. It is illegal to raise poultry with the use of growth hormones:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Tur… (scroll to the bottom, yo).
Also, for anyone to whom "no antibiotics" is important, make sure your meat is labeled "no antibiotics ever." ALL poultry must be tested for antibiotic residue at time of slaughter, and cannot be slaughtered if there is residue. But if there is no residue, it doesn't necessarily mean the bird never had antibiotics. They all are required to go through a withdrawal period before slaughter.
Trader Joe's, like all other meat processors, vendors, etc., is claiming the MOST they legally can on their turkey labels. So that means no, the turkeys were not raised cage free, "humanely," or whatever, because they would certainly label them as such if that were the case. And "All Natural," really, when it comes to meat, only means the meat is not further processed or injected after slaughter. Like you say, @36, a lot of it is just distracting marketing technique.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Tur… (scroll to the bottom, yo).
Also, for anyone to whom "no antibiotics" is important, make sure your meat is labeled "no antibiotics ever." ALL poultry must be tested for antibiotic residue at time of slaughter, and cannot be slaughtered if there is residue. But if there is no residue, it doesn't necessarily mean the bird never had antibiotics. They all are required to go through a withdrawal period before slaughter.
Trader Joe's, like all other meat processors, vendors, etc., is claiming the MOST they legally can on their turkey labels. So that means no, the turkeys were not raised cage free, "humanely," or whatever, because they would certainly label them as such if that were the case. And "All Natural," really, when it comes to meat, only means the meat is not further processed or injected after slaughter. Like you say, @36, a lot of it is just distracting marketing technique.
40
This is why I'm going to a turkey curry buffet for Thanksgiving.
Cheap.
Uses less global resources.
And a heck of a lot more fun!
Cheap.
Uses less global resources.
And a heck of a lot more fun!
41
I've got Jewish Organic Thanksgiving Guilt (JOTG).
I'm 35 and have had cancer for 8 years and am trying to reduce my meat intake and make it organic organic. My mom has schlepped around Pittsburgh for the last week in search of an organic turkey. This is the woman who helped wheel my IV pole to the bathroom, who slept on a dumpster dived futon on my floor during treatment, and now I’m making her haul ass all over town and dole out some serious cash for a friggen organic turkey? She is something to be thankful for.
http://everythingchangesbook.blogspot.co…
I'm 35 and have had cancer for 8 years and am trying to reduce my meat intake and make it organic organic. My mom has schlepped around Pittsburgh for the last week in search of an organic turkey. This is the woman who helped wheel my IV pole to the bathroom, who slept on a dumpster dived futon on my floor during treatment, and now I’m making her haul ass all over town and dole out some serious cash for a friggen organic turkey? She is something to be thankful for.
http://everythingchangesbook.blogspot.co…
42
@27: Did you just admit that your sole purpose at the Stranger is to incite controversy and page views...? This new self-awareness is really exciting!
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