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ence, but it’s close enough that it’s not so bad. We get calls all the time from people who say their doctor told them their cholesterol is going through the roof.
Has Tofurky become a gateway toward other tofu products for a lot of your customers? No doubt. Five percent of America is vegan or vegetarian. But 17 percent of Americans eat 50 percent of their meals meatless each week. That’s a major force driving our numbers. Meat sales are down; the USDA says meat is down 12.2 percent since 2008. Pork, beef, chicken, turkey–all down. How big is your company? There’s my family, plus 100 employees. We’ve hired about 1.5 people a month for the last 16 months. I think President Obama can thank us for some of those improving employment numbers. What’s on your Thanksgiving table? Tofurky. I used to smoke them but lately, I’ve been putting a roast in a crockpot with some mushroom soup.
How many will a roast feed? We have two sizes, but our most popular one–26 ounces–easily feeds five people. The roast may seem small but there are no bones. Plus, there’s usually plenty of leftovers for sandwiches and casseroles. And I see that you package an entire meal. A Tofurky feast includes a two-pound roast, 14 ounces of gravy, an 11-ounce vegan chocolate cake and two Tofurky wish sticks to make a wish. That goes for 19 bucks and feeds six people. And how significant is your presence in the Treasure Valley? Our products are at Fred Meyer, the Boise Co-Op and Whole Foods. So I guess I should say Happy Tofurky Day. Do you know why the Tofurky crossed the road? OK, I’ll bite. Why? To prove that he wasn’t chicken.
RALL
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THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CLAIMS TO BE THE PA RTY OF SMALL GOVERNMENT CON SER VAT I S M ; W HY N OT S AY THAT THI S IS A SI MPL E M AT T E R O F K E E P I NG THE GOVER N MENT OU T OF O U R B EDROOMS A ND OUT O F WO M E N’ S B ODI E S ? ” —TED RALL
Beginning last summer, Republican strategists consciously decided to 6 downplay Mitt Romney’s stances on the Republican Party’s platform on social issues. Now liberal commentators are joining them, strangely and cynically suggesting that Republicans need to change their emphasis of their messaging—but not the content of their policies. Style isn’t enough. Republicans are doomed unless they radically change to socialissue policies that are in step with the country. If the Party of Lincoln is adaptable and intelligent, it will exploit the opportunity to move, not just left, but to the left of the center-right Democratic Party. The GOP could make good on its longstanding assertion that it favors a legal path to immigration by proposing that we open our WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
doors to a huge surge of legal immigration. The Republican Party claims to be the party of small government conservatism; why not say that this is a simple matter of keeping the government out of our bedrooms and out of women’s bodies? Same thing goes for same-sex marriage and other rights for people who are discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. You can’t roll out a new and improved Republican Party social issues platform overnight without alienating the crazy Christian fundamentalists and other unattractive sorts who form the basis of the Republican Party. But you can start a transition to a viable future in a methodical way that prepares the Republican Party for the huge demographic shifts that will drive the politics of the country as it moves further and further to the left.
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