This sanctimonious ass, Corbyn Hanson Hightower, was featured recently in the New York Times (h/t Karolnyc). See, her ‘values’ require that she dumpster dive for thrown out veggies rather than feed her children non-organic or, worse, have to buy the icky old food available via food stamps. Which means she’s not just a likely Birkenstock-clad ass full of Smug ™, she’s also a liar; you can buy whatever food items that you want with your food stamps. They act like cash.

She starts off whining that even though it ‘marginalizes’ her, she’d rather dig around in trash than feed her children lower-quality food (lower quality than TRASH) that would more conform to her budget. Like all good Progressives, to her budgets are icky! Live within your means and make some sacrifices? Hell, no. She’s entitled to her wheat grass, dammit! For free.

Here is a passage from her original article, which The New York Times only excerpted:

Peering through a bag of rejected broccoli from the garbage for signs of brown or yellow patches is something I couldn’t have imagined doing just a few short years ago. Before my work got downsized, I was the kind of consumer who shopped with an eye for quality alone, without much thought to price at all. Back when I made an embarrassingly-good living, my view was that food is underpriced and undervalued in our culture, and that since I could afford it, buying the best was not only good for my family, but good for the farmers and manufacturers. I joined the Facebook page: “I’d Rather Spend More Than Shop at Wal-Mart.” Food, Inc. was my manifesto, and Michael Pollan and Morgan Spurlock my high priests. Nothing entered the house that wasn’t free-trade, free-range, sustainable, grass-fed, organic, or ethically-produced.  Oh, and of course, local if possible. If it could have been blessed by Tibetan monks, I’d probably have opted for that, too.

And now, for the last two years, we’ve been living far below the federal poverty level. We sold our family car, canceled the cable and Internet, and stripped ourselves to the bare minimum of comforts to ride out these tough times. Even with that, we still rely on food stamps and the WIC program to bridge the chasm between our grocery budget and what is actually required to fill the larder. Until our youngest two are in school and I can find some sort of work that’s biking distance, this is our lifeline. Still, it’s nowhere near enough. Food stamps are only sufficient if you feed your kids ramen noodles bought in bulk quantities, cheap meat, Doritos, and non-organic milk. Giant, cheap crates of cereal, not those precious little boxes of flax flakes they sell at Whole Foods. The WIC program allows for a couple of organic and vegan choices, which is astounding progress. However, it’s all just a drop in the bucket for the needs of your average family.

What was once the territory of gutter punks and urban squatters, dumpster diving has become less-taboo for the parental set. One young woman I talked to says she dumpster dives with her mother; it’s become, for them, just another family resource for living a healthy lifestyle. And it’s not just about the free food, it’s about living in a way that’s in harmony with your values—saying “no more” to our culture of conspicuous waste.

The pious! It burns!

I’m sure there is more, but frankly, I could not force myself to finish her whole “essay.” I need to gear up to read her other post “Celebrating Earth Day In Tough Times“. No, really. I’m not kidding, sadly. I’ll give her one thing — I suppose food dug out from a dumpster, encrusted with any number of bodily fluids and grime, can be considered “organic.”

E-Coli – For The Children ™. But it’s harmonious and all! Because, Mother Earth. No Flax seed, No Peace!