def to_text(data):
    """
    Serializes a python object as plain text

    If the data can be serialized as JSON, this method will use the to_json
    method to format the data, otherwise the data is returned as is.
    """
    try:
        serialized_content = to_json(data, indent=4)
    except Exception, e:
        serialized_content = data
    return serialized_content