Wal-Smart?

So we drove past the now-closed Borders book store in my city, and my younger daughter asked, "Where will we go for our books now?" 

And I said, "Well, Barnes and Noble is just around the block."  

And she said, "What if that store closes, too?"  

And I said, "Well, I suppose most people are ordering online now, and that's why these stores close, so do you think it matters?"  

And she said, "But I don't like to order online.  I like to see a book before I buy it."  

And I said, "Well, there used to be small, independent bookstores where you could not only see a book, but the owner would get to know you and would recommend books to you, and maybe even order ones special just for you.  Also, a lot of money would stay in the local economy, since the bookstore owner used a local accountant and bought local goods and donated to local non-profits, and so on."

And she said, "That sounds really nice.  What happened?" 

And I said, "Big book stores like Borders came in and drove out the small, local stores."  

And she said, "But now Borders is closing, and the small stores are gone."

Silence.  Just silence after that.  What more could we say?

The irony of this, of course, was that we were on our way to Walmart, which is in the same shopping center as the closing Borders.  I strongly dislike Walmart, and my daughter had no memory before yesterday of walking in its doors.  As Walmart expands to urban centers by adding smaller-scale models of its stores, I expect that many more vibrant local economies will be decimated.  Walmart joins Coca Cola and McDonald's on my list of companies for which I don't vote with my dollars.  However, all three are making big sustainability changes, and all three have the ability to change the world dramatically with even the tiniest of improvements.

"But is it merely mitigation for the damage they've already caused?" I asked Tyson at the Farmer D Organics retail store the other day when I went to pick up organic fertilizer for Team Food Pantry's ever-expanding efforts. 

She replied, "Even if it is, isn't that better than doing what they've been doing?"  Good food for thought.

The Community Food listserv from Tufts University has been having a terrific conversation about Walmart all week, in regards to its Thursday media announcement about its commitment to improve the health of its food.  People like Anna Lappe, Jill Richardson, Jennifer Nutt and Hank Herrera have me thinking, thinking, thinking about all sides of this issue.  I have many questions, and many opinions right now.  But the one that keeps nagging at me is: What happens to local farmers when they sign with Walmart?  I fear it may go something like this: 

* Local farmers sign at a competitive price

* They then expand to meet Walmart's orders

* The competition gets forced out

* Then Walmart drops its price to the local farmers, with whom they had required exclusive contracts

And then, frankly, those local farmers might as well be running commercial chicken houses that can never get above water without producing more, more, more for less, less, less.  They have, as they say, sold their souls to the devil, and society pays the price long-term.  Or maybe not? 

Anyway, enough of that for today.  The folks I listed above, plus many more, have written far more knowledgeably and eloquently on this topic than I am going to attempt to do here.  Books and article galore have been published.  Movies have been made.  If you're interested, I recommend you explore them thoroughly.

As for me, two things brought me to Walmart.  One, I had entered a raffle at the City of Dunwoody music festival to win a Smart Car.  I was told that if I went to the dealership and test-drove the car, I would get my $25 back.  I went, and I did.  I didn't realize I would get the money back in the form of a Walmart gift card.

Two, while researching Walmart's sustainability efforts, I discovered it had self-produced a 90-minute DVD.  I ordered it online for a dollar and had it delivered to the store so I could save shipping (and to force myself to go in there).  (And, by the way, you don't pick it up at the Customer Service desk conveniently located in the front.  You have to go way, way, way, to the back of the store.)

So I picked up the DVD (in fact, I bought two, in case anyone wants one--email me) and my daughter and I walked around aimlessly trying to find something "sustainable" to buy with the gift card.   I was thisclose to donating it to a food pantry client, but then got an idea about how I could make the $25 go further.  I said, "How about we buy something to plant in the food pantry beds?"  So we went to the garden center (having just seen a robust environment outside at Farmer D's, complete with sustainably-harvested cedar raised beds, backyard chicken coops, fruit trees, and a hoop house busting with transplants).  And here is what we found.

Feeling sort of depressed (and the cold lighting and decor at Walmart doesn't help with this --how does Target and Costco manage to avoid this effect?), I was just about to give up when we rounded a corner and found this display shoved up again an end-aisle, facing a back wall.  Organic seeds!  Two dollars each!  My daughter and I picked out ten packages, and they will be planted in food pantry beds all over my city, from which we've continued to harvest all winter (except during that snow week).

I watched the DVD, and frankly, I have to admit, it is some of the best coverage of a wide range of sustainability topics I've seen yet.  Divided into a series of segments, the DVD covers cotton, coffee, seafood, jewelry, product energy, China, logistics, packaging, buildings, waste, recycling, engaging people, systems thinking, network problem solving, and more.  

I found the DVD overall to be blatantly honest.  For those of you involved in this stuff, I think you will be surprised at it.  For those of you still just dipping your toe, this DVD is an extremely efficient way to get an overview of some of the main topics involved, supported by really engaging global visuals and interviews.

However . . .

I held my breath waiting for the section on food, which was labeled on the DVD cover as "heritage agriculture."  Heritage agriculture?  I wondered: Is Walmart promoting heritage meat and heirloom crop varieties?  Or perhaps "heritage agriculture" is its euphemism for how farming used to be (you know, organic).  

Well, turns out the term "heritage agriculture" is used by Walmart to refer to the "reintroduction of agricultural products in regions where they used to grow."  So, for example, a farmer who grew only tomatoes is now encouraged by Walmart to grow collards and cabbage as well. The words "organic" and "sustainable" were never once used, in stark contrast to the rest of the DVD.  So, my red flag went up. Something's fishy here.

As one Comfood commenter said, "When you control the food, you control the world."  As another said, "My urban farm provides better food for the same or less cost, delivered to the doors of those who need it, and we have no need to make a deal with Walmart." 

But . . . 

Walmart's sustainability efforts in just a few short years have removed literally gazillions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions, reduced pesticide use (for instance, when Walmart offered just one organic cotton item in its stores, it immediately became the largest purchaser of organic cotton in the world), and encouraged (teetering on requiring) the systemic change in how thousands and thousands of companies do business throughout their entire supply chains. Walmart's goals are huge--100% increased efficiency in its fleet of trucks by 2015, based on a 2005 baseline; ZERO waste by 2025; and frankly, an entire revolution in how products are manufactured.  

Food is perhaps another story, and in all honestly, I'm not sure enough people are going to wake up to this in time to make a difference for our society.  Yet people are hungry, and they are eating garbage food, and society is bearing the burden in increased medical costs, impaired learning, reduced quality of life, decreased national security, and many more truly debilitating effects.  Change is needed.  Lots of changes, in lots of ways, and reduced sodium in products that millions of people are going to buy no matter what sounds like part of the total mix, if you ask me.

The answers are unclear.  The "bad guys" have the potential to be the "good guys."  And frankly, if you accept annihilation of humanity as a real possibility (see pages 26-28 in my book for more about this), then you can let go of fear and focus on making your own personal, positive impact and trusting the journey.

 

And so the question becomes "What is your role in the world's food story?"  Find where you feel like you can contribute authentically (I, for one, don't want to be eaten up by negativity) and do your best.  You may find some helpful info here.

I've learned that what I do best is plant seeds.  And so I will, in the two gardens pictured here (unless we lose the community garden--that answer will come very soon, and what will be will be), and in many more places. (In fact, that's why I'm posting today instead of Sunday, as usual.  Tomorrow I'm preparing beds for planting, starting at the crack of dawn.)

Yes, I know all the bad stuff about Walmart.  Yes, I'm torn.  But . . . . I also wouldn't be surprised if you find me at Walmart.  And McDonald's.  And in the belly of the beast at Coca Cola's headquarters right here in Atlanta . . . within the next five years.  In fact, I hope you do, because that will mean there has been a true paradigm shift in our world. 

It's hard to imagine right now.  But imagine we must.  There are many paths to a sustainable future on our FoodShed Planet, and I am open to all of them (even antiseptic-sounding urban-based vertical farming, complete with sterilized clothing).  And when I see things I support, I'll vote with my dollar.  As I did yesterday.  I told my daughter that perhaps the sales inventory report will show a slight increase in the sale of organic seeds for the day we were there.  And perhaps that will make a difference, infinitesimal at first, but then louder and louder like the singing of the Whos in Whoville. 

So, we'll see.  But I am far from sold.

Wal-Smart?