The side to the Whole Foods peeled oranges conversation you didn't see.
Backlash to pre-peeled oranges prompted an important discussion.
Last week, a woman named Nathalie Gordon set the Internet ablaze when she tweeted a photo and quip about some oranges at her local Whole Foods.
How wasteful, I thought when I saw her tweet. How lazy does someone have to be to not even peel their own oranges?
While it's clear Gordon was just joking around, her tweet gained immediate traction, racking up tens of thousands of likes, retweets, and replies from people with various conservationist messages and concerns about the unnecessary and seemingly wasteful use of plastic (as well as just outright demands to pull the product).
Less than three hours later, Whole Foods tweeted, "Definitely our mistake. These have been pulled. We hear you, and we will leave them in their natural packaging: the peel."
Photo from iStock.
That's the end of it, right? I thought so, too — but then I noticed a group of people responding negatively to Whole Foods' decision to pull the pre-peeled, plastic-wrapped oranges from the shelves, and the point they were making was important.
The decision to pull the product ignored the needs of individuals with arthritis and other disabilities that make peeling an orange difficult.
Members of the disabled community were quick to weigh in and provide thoughtful time- and energy-consuming responses to the decision to help able-bodied individuals understand their frustration.
New York City's first annual Disability Pride Parade on July 12, 2015. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
Kim Sauder, a Ph.D. candidate in disability studies, posted about the decision at her blog crippledscholar, "As a person with limited hand dexterity, I look at this and see an easier way to eat healthy food."
"Preparing food with limited mobility is both hugely time consuming and potentially dangerous. While adapted cooking tools do exist to help offset those issues, they are really expensive, " Sauder explained on her blog. "Anything that helps make my regular acts of daily life safer and more convenient is always a plus. So I was one of a number of disabled people who pushed back against the wholesale shaming of preprepared foods."
Others, like Eb, who is both autistic and disabled, chimed in on Twitter, writing, "There is a very real need for pre-peeled fruit, as a number of people, me included, pointed out. This should not be in dispute."
"Any time you see a 'so lazy!' product you want to dig at, 99.9% of the time it's an accessible item for someone," author Ana Mardoll explained in a series of tweets.
"It is draining, tiring, painful to continually be treated like a wrongful drain on Mother Earth because we're disabled," Mardoll tweeted. "In addition to the wrongful drain we often feel we are on families, employers, etc. We exist. We take up space. We buy pre-peeled oranges and wear Snuggies and those 'ugly' plastic shoes and have grabbers to pull up our socks."
People who live with a disability are the world's largest minority group, yet they're often treated as though they're invisible.
The potential benefit something as simple as pre-peeled oranges could have for someone living with disability isn't something that always occurs to those of us who are able-bodied, and that's due in large part to the fact that it's simply not a reality we've experienced.
When we see ramps, elevators, and other tools designed to make the world more accessible to people with disabilities, it's easy for the first reaction to be, "How lazy do you have to be to take the elevator to the second floor?" In reality, without that elevator, others may not be able to reach the second floor at all.
It's not laziness, it's life.
New York City's Disability Pride Parade on July 12, 2015. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images.
Just as it's easy not to see racism when you're white, homophobia when you're straight, or sexism when you're male, it's easy to see past ableism when you're not disabled.
This isn't just about a tweet or some oranges, but about how we treat the disabled community as a society.
The world is built for those of us living free from disability. And while certain things like the Americans with Disabilities Act have tried to ensure public spaces are made accessible to all, it's a far cry from true acceptance and accommodation.
What the world needs is more empathy for our fellow humans. It's the difference between remarking, "How lazy!" and instead asking, "How can I help?"
As for Whole Foods, it turns out they will continue to sell peeled orange and tangerine slices.
Asked for comment, Whole Foods told Upworthy the following:
"Many of our customers love the convenience that our cut produce offers, and this was a simple case where a handful of stores experimented with a seasonal product. Orange and tangerine slices have long been a staple favorite in our stores, and we'll continue to offer them alone with other sliced produce options for customers who are looking for added convenience. We're glad some customers pointed out this particular product so we could take a closer look and leave Sumos in their natural packaging — the peel."
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
It's possible to find a place where accessibility and minimal environmental impact meet, and hopefully Whole Foods can do that.
This isn't a zero-sum game, and there's certainly a path forward that is both accessible and environmentally-friendly. If we can seek out more environmentally-friendly solutions for things like fuel for our cars, we can do the same for the plastic we use in packaging.
Maybe that solution involves packaging pre-peeled and pre-sliced foods in biodegradable containers, maybe it involves an increased push for recycling, or maybe the solution has yet to be thought up. In the meantime, though, there are people who need their world to be accessible.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."