Whole Foods recently came under fire when this photo of pre-peeled oranges in plastic containers went viral on Twitter.
If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them.
The oranges (which cost $5.99 a pound) were being sold on Whole Foods shelves. The photo was retweeted over 65,000 times.
The store, which prides itself on its "wise environmental practices," banned plastic bags in 2008.
The result: People were pissed.
@awlilnatty Fucking hell. That makes me unbelievably angry actually. Talk about necessarily contributing to plastic taking over the planet.
@awlilnatty @OhioGanja I'm pretty sure my tree has the answer...
Not to mention a bit grossed out.
@awlilnatty @AlbertBurneko I have always wished the fruit of my oranges had been handled by a stranger more before I eat it.
Whole Foods responded less than three hours after the original tweet was posted to say that they were pulling the item.
@awlilnatty Definitely our mistake. These have been pulled. We hear you, and we will leave them in their natural packaging: the peel.
Whole Foods said it will stop selling peeled oranges for $6 a pound & will instead focus full time on making Thneeds
The company told the Huffington Post that "a lot of our customers love the convenience of our cut produce offerings, but this was a simple case where a handful of stores experimented with a seasonal product spotlight that wasn't fully thought through. We're glad some customers pointed it out so we could take a closer look."
But not everyone agreed with their decision.
Some Twitter users have pointed out that the peeled oranges could be useful for people with disabilities and the elderly.
.@awlilnatty While I share your concern for the environment and wish they'd found more biodegradable packing this is great for disabled ppl
.@itsqueenbea @awlilnatty or too arthritic. Or in too much pain. Or shaky hands... There are many reasons beyond "lazy" these are good.
Ableism is assuming that things like packaging, easier doors, handy tools, etc are made for lazy folk while disregarding the disabled.
