It seems like we were all just wondering when exactly the local food movement would be co-opted.
And suddenly, here’s our answer: According to NPR, Wal-Mart has begun touting its locally grown produce.
Wal-Mart says partnerships with local farmers have grown 50 percent over the past two years—not just in California, but in Wal-Mart stores across the country. This year, it plans to buy about $400 million worth of locally grown produce.
The company says it’s doing this mainly to save fuel costs, but the public relations value of being hooked in to the locavore movement is probably not lost on it.
Wal-Mart’s definition of locally grown food might be very different from, say, Barbara Kingsolver’s. Wal-Mart defines local food as any food grown in the same state. Which means an apple grown in Redding, California, can end up labeled as local when it appears in a San Diego Wal-Mart—more than 600 miles away.
I think Wal-Mart is evil and I won’t shop there, regardless.
When they start labelling where exactly the food comes from (like WFM) I’ll start believing them. A peach grown in Fresno is not local to Irvine; wine grown in Temecula is not local in San Francisco.
Successful companies deliver quality products. Smart companies find ways to deliver the same product at a lower price. Using their resources to purchase “local” product is a smart way to stay ahead of the completion and pass the savings on to the consumers. More companies need to think this way if their going to stay afloat.
I agree with socaldad2000, but I’m just not quite sure I’d trust Wal-Mart to be 100% honest about where their stuff comes from. Remember a few years back when they got pinched for selling foreign-made clothing as “Made in the USA”?
Nevertheless, it is a step in the right direction. Wal-Mart has sufficient purchasing power to actually drive market prices to a certain extent. I hope they use their power for good, not evil.
Socaldad you got it right. I think this is a terrific economic indicator that consumers are demanding food that is “more” local (read: not grown in another hemisphere). I think many of us chowhounders judge others if they don’t get their produce from a CSA or a farmstand each week, but the reality is that many consumers don’t have equal access to this kind of produce. I agree this does leave the door open for dishonesty, but I’d rather see Wal-Mart be 98% honest about produce being local than be 100% honest about it being from 2000 miles away.
$400 million sounds like a lot of money, but I wonder just what percentage of Wal-Mart’s total produce purchases that is. Bet it’s pretty small.
Walmart-quantity purchasing of produce grown in the same state as a monoculture agribusiness is a far cry from supporting local farmers at farmers markets or a CSA.
I doubt I’d look for quality there; just price, per Walmart way of doing business.
Even if Walmart bought its milk locally, most likely it would be from a mega-operation, and Walmart would be pressing the producer hard to lower prices — use cheaper feed, pay workers poorly, etc.
I’m with NYchowcook, I don’t equate ‘local’ with ‘quality’ especially when mega-corporations like Wal-Mart are involved.
The definition of ‘local’ may have to be a bit malleable due to shortsided population explosions across the country and resultant destruction of farm acreage. Bakersfield is really ‘local’ to Los Angeles county even though it is ~90 miles distant.
Wal-mart’s business model is built on buying so much product from a producer that the producer becomes dependent upon Wal-marts purchasing to stay afloat, at that point Wal-mart has the power to dictate to the producer price and policy. Do you really want Wal-mart involved in the how the food you eat is produced? more info: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/07/0081115
Doesn’t impress me at all. Local produce means something I buy directly from the farmers in this area who present quality produce for sale. For example one local farm grows fabulous corn. They buy quality seed and only pick the corn when it is ready for sale.
Walmart is well known for beating vendors into the ground. So they will go to a farmer and demand the cheapest price which means the farmer can only do bigbox quality not good quality.
‘Dominance’ is what they want over the marketplace, wholesale as well as retail. No place for them in my culinary poilitics.