WalMart & Organics - why you shouldn't believe the hype

[peanutterb]

So my friend called me this morning huffing and puffing bc she was so upset about this article she read about Walmart lobbying the government to lower the standards of organic food so they can offer it for cheap.

I already boycott Wal-Mart but I was going to go in to check out how legitimate their organic stuff is (because you can legally label something "organic" if it fits into this 60% range, but to be USDA certified, it has to be 95%)

So Now I need to do more research because if they lower the standards of organic, then we all suffer. This is definitely a new low for Wal-Mart.

I'll post articles as I find them but if you find some too, post as well. Would love to know what everyone thinks about the topic in general.

[peanutterb]

*FYI, WalMart isn't the only one you have to watch - local supermarkets and national brands like horizon milk claim "organic" but are truly not.*

the articles:

"Wal-Mart's Organic Offensive
Not everyone is pleased by the giant retailer's push into natural foods, starting with some very anxious U.S. farmer"
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2006/nf20060329_6971.htm

Excerpt: "And large companies have tried to use their muscle in Washington to their advantage. Last fall, the Organic Trade Assn., which represents corporations like Kraft, Dole, and Dean Foods, lobbied to attach a rider to the 2006 Agricultural Appropriations Bill that would weaken the nation's organic food standards by allowing certain synthetic food substances in the preparation, processing, and packaging of organic foods. That sparked outrage from organic activists. Nevertheless, the bill passed into law in November, and the new standards will go into effect later this year. "

[peanutterb]

http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_468.cfm

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/05/walmart_is_goin_1.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/magazine/04wwln_lede.html?ex=1307073600&en=07310c42ac1a390c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[realraw100%notbs75%]

I would love less expensive organic foods - THANK YOU WAL MART!

[swimgirl]

I think another issue that is coming to the fore is not just organic, but local. Think about how far yur food has to travel. They say it's an average of 1200 miles. It's not only the fossil fuels involved in question, but also consider that the length of time between harvesting and to your table drastically affects the nutrients in the food.

[swimgirl]

Wal Mart is actually trying to include locally grown food.

My feelings about Wal Mart are actually quite mixed and nuanced.

[peanutterb]

I try to boycott wal-mart because i'm suspicious of their business practices and affects on the community (wages, breaks, insurance, closing down local business etc) and the fact that everytime i've ever gone to get scotch tape i somehow end up spending at least $50. The final straw was once time I went in to get two things and I asked for a basket and they said they don't have baskets. I felt like it was a trick to get me to buy more in that big ole cart :eek: lol

My main concern is the standard of "organic" being affected and lowered. Organic is one thing you can count on in this country where everything's mass produced, with artifical flavours, colours, preservatives and dexycyclicoxicide acids and such. I would like for orangic stuff to be cheaper but I'd prefer to pay the extra price to get real organic than getting a cheap knockoff.

[smartcookie]

can someone point me in the right direction so I can figure out what is organic and what isn't. I just saw that the Horizons brand is not truly organic. I need to edumucate myself:p

[peanutterb]

can someone point me in the right direction so I can figure out what is organic and what isn't. I just saw that the Horizons brand is not truly organic. I need to edumucate myself:p

www.organicconsumers.org

www.organic.org

http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food

[sopheetsa]

I don't usually shop in Walmart-- and have never gone for organics there-- altho I'm happy to hear they're trying to add them to their repertoire. This may sound like a show-off thing to say-- but I was recently featured in an article on the "Cleanse" in a magazine-- which I didn't bother to try to find-- till it was just about too late to get it anywhere-- and of all places-- I heard that the mag was sold in Walmart. So just about when the issue was no longer on the stands (I checked a bunch in NYC) I went to my first ever Walmart-- to try to get it-- and they didn't have the mag-- and sure enough I ended up buying a bagful of stuff-- which amazingly- cost only $14.

realraw100%notbs75%, is it true that you're 100% raw-- not 75%? For how long have you been?

Thanks! :)

Sophie

[peanutterb]

congrats on the article sopheesta. doesn't sound like showing off at all. you did awesome on your cleanses and someone wrote about it! how is that showing off??
Hopefully it wasn't like the beyonce article where she basically made it look like a worthless fad diet or the other article by the NYC journalist who had posted on here ooooorrrrrrr that blog by the san fran lady.
anyway.
anyway. let me get myself together.

yeah so i might actually end up going to walmart today to take my family and I'll check out their organic selection and prices.
I'm just so wary of big business and their practices. Check out the walmart video - the high cost of low price. www.walmartmovie.com i think.

But being in the advertising industry I see how we always try to spin things and change people's perceptions and stuff like that. Those truth ads where they talk about how big tobacco was trying to spin things and market cigarettes to different people, even children - well all companies, especially the big ones do that. Plus, I watch a companies products, enviromental impact and record and relations oversees.

The US has a lot of rules to protect people that other countries don't. And having lived majority of my life oversees and seeing the subpar products and ingredients we've gotten and seeing how they put local enterprises out of business, sometimes makes me distrust these big companies like coke, proctor & gamble, mcdonald's and the like even more.

[Res]

RealRaw: Although everyone here is free to express their opinions, there's a way to do so without being offensive and I find your terminology exactly that.

Please refrain.

Thank you,
~Res