Penzey Calls Walker and His Supporters Segregationists, Racists

I think Bill Penzey is crazy.

It's not a smart business move to alienate and insult your clientele.

Penzey, owner of Penzeys Spices, continues to rip his customers, calling the governor of Wisconsin a segregationist and his supporters living outside the city of Milwaukee segregationists.

Crazy?

Absolutely.

Penzey's means to spew his crap in the catalog he sends to customers and potential customers. His catalog is his soapbox.

A short while back I found myself watching a good documentary, The Bus, on iTunes. Through most of my childhood my parents drove VW bugs and buses. Over those years they became so much more than just a means for getting around. For us it was almost as if they became an extension of our family. About 22 minutes into the film we get to the ‘60s era and this wonderful woman with flowing hair and a sky blue dress appears and says, “The whole idea was to feed the world with love. It was neat.” My ears perked up at that, but then she continues, saying , “I thought, wow, this is great, this is going to change the world, but it didn’t. It didn’t.”

Later in the film she is introduced. She is Eve Muir, wife and partner of John Muir who literally wrote the book on Volkswagens. With the nature of VWs back then, his book How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive was never far from the top of the piles of books we had around our house growing up. Looking back, their book truly was a revolution. Its breakthrough was in understanding that keeping something alive has to be about more than just nuts and bolts. It also has to be about creating a mindset that understands just how connected we all are to the world around us and gets us to believe that how we choose to journey through life really does matter.

I had not thought of Muir’s book in quite some time, but I found myself thinking on our own journey to keep the spirit of cooking alive just how close to their approach we’ve ended up. I can’t help but feel we’ve gotten further because of the path they created for all of us to travel. So thanks, Eve and John Muir, and sorry to disagree, but you did change the world. The way you lived your lives
made it a better place. And what better time for a new Summer of Love, so here is our catalog of VW owners. They are certainly worth sitting with for a while. Great recipes, too.

And letters. With every issue we get such thoughtful letters, but somehow our last catalog set so much more in motion. As our new website takes shape we need to have a place to share your comments. The voices of those who Cook-to-Love are something the world needs to hear much more. Thanks to everyone who wrote and a very special thank-you to Wendy Tien. Her letter is so personal and so perfectly illustrates why many of our communities are still so segregated today. And though Wendy’s letter was just meant for me to read, I asked if we could share her words with all of our readers. With great strength, she said yes. We are all in her debt.

Segregation is no longer some grim-faced governor standing on the steps of the Capitol shouting, “Segregation now-tomorrow-forever!” Segregation today has grown into a multi-step process. It starts with the new, more polished leaders who, with a smile, send ever-so-subtle messages that America is a whites-first nation. Next, AM radio personalities turn that smile to a sneer and pass it on to their listeners, who turn that sneer into anger. That anger does an amazing job of producing lopsided vote totals in places with little diversity, but it’s poison to everything that is good in our lives and a roadblock across the path of Kindness that leads to cooking.

With all that cooking does, it isn’t surprising to find that Wendy Tien has a food blog. It is amazingly kind to her home state. I’m pretty sure in the food blog world, Love = page views. So Heal the World—Visit Wendy Tien’s food blog.

bill@penzeys.com

Wow.

Penzey is nuts.

"America is a whites-first nation"?

Insane.

He dismisses the actions of DEMOCRAT George Wallace as ancient history, preferring to paint Governor Walker and "AM radio personalities" as the real haters.

"That anger does an amazing job of producing lopsided vote totals in places with little diversity, but it’s poison to everything that is good in our lives and a roadblock across the path of Kindness that leads to cooking."

That really is bizarre.

I really don't know why anyone, other than deranged Leftists, would support Penzey by buying his products.

Penzey has chosen to make shopping for spices a political statement. He's the one choosing to stir the pot with accusations that are cruel and divisive.

HE is the "roadblock across the path of Kindness."

Heal the World.

Cook something nice.

Don't buy Penzeys Spices.