GRRRR.

Mrs.A&J

About 10 minutes before closing tonight at work the phone rings, and I answered, I had no idea what I was in for. The guy starts talking about quinoa and organic something, he's talking so fast I didn't catch it all at first. (I could tell right away he hadn't a clue what he was talking about because he pronounced it ki-no-uh) Apparently he was inquiring as to whether or not we sold it non-organically because "I don't buy anything organic because it's grown in waste." I said that we only offered it in the organic variety, he asked if he could order it (are you freaking kidding me?! You want us to track down a non-organic quinoa grower for ONE customer who refuses to buy organic), I said that that wouldn't be possible, he asked where he could get it, I said I couldn't tell him specifically but I was sure he could find it out there, he tells me we're the only grain company in the US. Huh? I told him we most certainly aren't and that I'm sure he could find what he was looking for online. He insisted that we try to order it for him, I assured him that we wouldn't be doing that. I suggested he do a little more research on what is behind the organic label. He starts screaming at me that he has done his research, it's grown in waste and isn't safe and he won't buy it. I hung up in the middle of his rant. It's not so much that he doesn't want to buy the organic that bothers me, lots of our customers opt for conventional (where we have both available) because of price or they don't really feel there's a significant difference, but this guy was flat out IGNORANT. He screamed that, "THAT'S WHAT ORGANIC MEANS, IT'S GROWN in WASTE!!" Nevermind that animal waste has been used in agriculture as fertilizer for THOUSANDS of years and that synthetic fertilizers have only been used in the last century. ARGH!!

CDMay2006

Maybe he is not ignorant, but confused... organic fertilizers do contain animal waste (excrement and blood, bone, etc.), and that may be off-putting to him.  It also sounds like there may have been a bit of a language barrier (or i may be reading into it).  It would be frustrating to be in your position, though, trying to explain the circumstances to a challenging customer.

Mrs.A&J

No language barrier, he spoke perfect English. I tried to explain the lack of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. He snapped at me that I was wrong. He would hardly let me get a word in, he argued that items not labeled organic in the store aren't necessarily treated with those, just that they aren't grown in waste.

Alisha_A

LOL...conventional doesn't mean there's no animal (including human!) waste involved! Heck, technically there's probably been poo in every drop of water in existence on earth, at one time.

Wash your food dude!

SuperGreen

That sucks, I'm sorry that happened to you.  I missed it in your OP, who do you work for?  In his defense,  DH and I had been eating quinoa for years before we were corrected on the pronouciation .  Regardless, it's so weird that he would be so angry about you not having a non-organic variety of something that is regarded as health food.  I don't know why he even bothered to call you.  Weirdness.

Mrs.A&J

I work for Bob's Red Mill.