Wal-mart has been in the news a lot lately for, well, for a lot of things, but one of them is its efforts to provide more organic foods. If you, like me, wonder whether it’s possible for a mega-corporation like Wal-mart to really help the organic food movement and not corrupt it, check out Eating Liberally’s The Big Box Paradox: Should We Shop At Wal-Mart? for a very thoughtful look into some of the issues around Wal-mart’s ultimate effect on the organic industry. It boils down to the fact that Wal-mart is only providing the cheapest, most industrial organic products, so out of all the things you might hope are signified in a bottle of organic milk, all you can really know is that it was produced without pesticides. It makes me worry a little, because there have been rumors about Wal-mart adding local produce to its stores – it sounds like a great idea, but will their drive for low prices force farmers to lower their standards to get Wal-mart business?
The best way to get healthy, environmentally conscious, socially responsible food is still to buy it from small local stores and brands – or better yet, straight from the farmer, as much as you can. But if Wal-mart happens to be your only source of organics, you should at least know what you’re getting into…