Well, it looks like my opinion on Wal-Mart going organic has turned out to be true. A new white paper by the Cornucopia Institute accuses Wal-Mart of lessening organic standards in their food products by sourcing the products from industrial farms and even foreign countries such as China. Somehow, I knew that Wal-Mart going organic was NOT a good idea, and that it would strip away the standards for organic foods. I had mentioned that the people that shop at Wal-Mart would think they were doing something good by buying organic, but in fact, it is having a negative effect on organic standards.

From NaturalNewsWire:

“CORNUCOPIA, WISCONSIN: A report released today by The Cornucopia Institute, the nation’s most aggressive organic farming watchdog, accuses Wal-Mart of cheapening the value of the organic label by sourcing products from industrial-scale factory farms and Third World countries, such as China.

Wal-Mart announced earlier this year that they would greatly increase the number of organic products they offered and price them at a target of 10% above the cost for conventional food.

“We have received scores of press inquiries over the past few months asking us if Wal-Mart’s organic expansion was Ogood news or bad news’ for the industry,” stated Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. “My stock answer has been: If Wal-Mart lends their logistical prowess to organic food both farmers and consumers will be big winners by virtue of a more competitive marketplace. However, if Wal-Mart applies their standard business model, and in essence Wal-Marts organics, then everyone will lose.”

The Institute’s white paper, Wal-Mart Rolls Out Organic Products Expansion or Market Delusion?, makes the argument that Wal-Mart is indeed poised to drive down the price of organic food in the marketplace by inventing a “new” organic and cheap imports of questionable quality. “Organic family farmers in this country could see their livelihoods disintegrate the same way so many industrial workers saw their family-supporting wages evaporate as Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers put the screws to manufacturers production shift to China and other low-wage countries,” Kastel added.”

You can read more about this at NaturalNewsWire and The Cornucopia Institute.

I juse KNEW this was a bad idea!

technorati tags:Wal-Mart organic farming

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