Guest guest Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 Published: May 14, 2006 Even a couple of years ago, the thought of Wal-Mart selling organic food would have seemed unimaginable. The only question is whether it would have seemed unimaginably good or unimaginably bad. That question has now been thrust upon us by Wal-Mart's recent decision to start offering organic food at just 10 percent over the cost of conventional food. So let's consider the possible good that can come of this. It will put the word " organic " and the Agriculture Department's organic label in front of millions of customers. It may offer those costumers the opportunity to choose organic food more affordably than they can at present. And it will probably — say the organic producers who support this move — increase the amount of acreage devoted to organic agriculture in this country and abroad. But here are the pitfalls. Wal-Mart will now become the 800-pound gorilla among the other, slightly smaller gorillas that have tried repeatedly to weaken the Agriculture Department's definition of what organic means. There is no chance that Wal-Mart will be buying from small, local organic farmers. Instead, its market influence will speed up the rate at which organic farming comes to resemble conventional farming in scale, mechanization, processing and transportation. For many people, this is the very antithesis of what organic should be. People who think seriously about food have come to realize that " local " is at least as important a word as " organic. " The only thing local about Wal-Mart is its shoppers. For " Wal-Mart " and " organic " to make sense in the same sentence, the company will have to commit itself to protecting the Agriculture Department standard that gives " organic " meaning. Otherwise, it will become just another shill word, like " new " or " improved. " Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Messenger with Voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 16, 2006 Report Share Posted May 16, 2006 Organic consumers blog: chat & organize http://organicconsumers.org/chat/viewforum.php? f=19 & sid=7360507366fe91c913b47f444faee6c5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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