What happens when Wal-Mart tries to cash in on the growing attraction toward locally grown food and tries to lower their fuel expenses?In an NPR report, a Wal-Mart spokesperson stated the benefits of stocking local produce:
"It's estimated that in the United States, produce travels an average of 1,500 miles — from farms to [the] homes of consumers. So it just provides us an opportunity to make products closer to home and buy local."What? How does this model fit into their low-prices-at-any-cost model?
Well, one way Wal-Mart puts its own spin on things is to co-opt the catch phrase, "locally grown." It redefines the parameters, tagging anything grown in the state as local. That's not that horrible, considering the journeys many apples make from New Zealand to Pennsylvania. According to many, however, anything grown over 50 miles away is not "real local food."
The only downside to Wal-Mart's attempt to capture this market, according to the NPR article, is that if more people decide to consume locally, growing states like California will be hit hard, as less people across the country will consume their nuts and fruit.
Keeping in mind the documentary "The Wal-Mart Effect," what kind of effect will Wal-Mart have on these local partnerships?
Image: Bounty from the River
so is walmart becoming the locally-based business that it largely replaced in communities around the country when it put mom and pop stores out of business?
ReplyDeleteNice picture. I bet you can't get those at walmart!
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