Is Walmart Creating a Healthier Diet For Americans?

[vfem]

Leave it to Walmart to know when a Fad is not a Fad and they need to make changes to keep in the lead in this industry. I'm actually quite happy when I see a mega monster store or company realize you can't fight the people, that what a customer wants should be worked with.

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[ninnymary]

I'm always leary when I hear of things like this. Walmart wouldn't be doing this if there wasn't money to be made. Why don't they just stop selling the junk and sell more different fruits and vegetables? Because they wouldn't make money.

Mary

 

[vfem]

Michelle Obama pleaded with Walmart to make changes based on the diets of the poorer of America in order to curve obesity. So this is more about changes in a 'healthier' produce section then the rest of their store. Walmart will not make any changes unless they see a chance at profit.

This obviously will be profitable for walmart in the long run... but I don't think will make any changes to the health or wellness of our children or even the parents. Parents make bad choices, and the kids eat what we feed them. Its our faults anyways....

 

[journey11]

At least it is a step in the right direction. There's no sense in adding all that extra fat and sodium if they don't have to.

It does make me sad that unhealthy food is so cheap and good (real!) food is not. Families who are struggling financially and have kids to feed will always go for the junk first because 1) you get more quantity for your buck, and 2) most kids will gladly eat the junk and reject (waste) healthy food anyway.

Another thing that makes me angry because it's purely exploitation is that for healthier versions of some foods, the price is jacked up just because it IS healthier and they are taking advantage of people who are buying it for that reason. For example, I would probably buy the 2% milk fat cheese, except that you only get 6 oz. for the same price of 8 oz. of the regular cheese. Products in the whole foods section of the grocery store are usually exorbitantly priced to target a specific demographic of wealthier, more health-conscious people, even though the production of those foods does not drive the price up to that degree. They treat healthy eating as if it were solely a fad and something to make a profit off of. That's why I grow my own--I'll not play their games.

I live in a rural area where there is opportunity for most everyone to grow a garden. You think of the poor in major urban areas that don't readily have that option. They are at the mercy of what is most affordable in the stores. Here, low-income families regularly depend on their gardens. In fact, there is a bit of a stigma to it, particularly among people of my grandparent's generation that look down on gardening and won't do it because it reminds them of being young and poor and having to work on their family's farm! (My husband's grandma won't eat my chicken's eggs for this very reason--she thinks that it's quaint that I have dirty ol' chickens.) They'd rather buy their food from the store and not get their hands dirty because they can now afford to do so.

I think it will take a long time to get most people pointed in the right direction. People are just too disconnected from their food supply--food comes from the store...not animals and gardens!

 

[seedcorn]

Walmart gives people, cheap food. People complain.

Walmart gives people healthier food that cost more, so therefore people have to pay more. People complain.

What is the common denominator?

 

[vfem]

No matter if people complain or not... people are still fat. Bad idea to sit and do nothing.

Shoot... people with food stamps, paid for housing & welfare complain. Oh well!

 

[seedcorn]

No matter if people complain or not... people are still fat. Bad idea to sit and do nothing.
Shoot... people with food stamps, paid for housing & welfare complain. Oh well!

This is Walmart's fault? I don't look for them as my life guide.

As I've stated before, ag will produce, grocery stores will sell whatever people will pay for. Walmart saw an opportunity, seized it. Good for them. They sell more, they buy more, more people will grow products they way some want it. It's a win-win. Be HAPPY.

 

[Northernrose]

Wal-mart is just in it for the profit. What sells good is cool packaging. My son is drawn towards all the "cool" stuff that they have lining the aisles. Most of it is totally over priced junk food that costs few cents in highfructose cornsyrup and artifical flavoring to make. Fresh fruits, veggies and meats have such a high profit loss due to spoilage and sell-by dates. The stores don't like that. It costs them more to maintain and stock yet they loose money on what doesn't sell in a matter of days. That's the main reason they don't like to stock "healthy" foods.

I do shop at Wal-mart and even the dreaded super Wal-mart . Of course it takes me much longer to walk through all the departments of useless crap to get to what I need. At least what I do need is cheap and all under one roof. But, I don't let Wal-mart change my way of shopping. I make it MY choice to buy unprocessed and healthy food items.

 

[seedcorn]

Wal-mart is just in it for the profit

& your point is? It's a store. All stores are in it for the profit. Take away the profit and you have a hobby, a business that is out of business or a charity.

Walmart isn't good or bad, it's a store.

 

[Llama Gardener]

Wal-mart is just in it for the profit

& your point is? It's a store. All stores are in it for the profit. Take away the profit and you have a hobby, a business that is out of business or a charity.

Walmart isn't good or bad, it's a store.

Here Here! It is a company, not a religion or a diet plan!