this actually isn't new--wal mart has been doing this for some time now. think i read an article awhile back that said something like 1% of total produce supply comes locally grown. obviously small change in the big picture, but 1% of supply for a $400 billion a year company is actually quite significant.

because it's a powerhouse, wal mart has the ability to make a big change while only eating into a small portion of its profits, thus keeping shareholders happy. let's just hope the trend continues

I'm (mostly) happy about this as well.

Better nutrition for a greater number of people? Keeping local farmers afloat? I'll take it. Even if it comes in the form of a megamart.

ditto, i'm happy and hopeful about this news but something isn't sitting right with me. let's hope for the best but prepare to push for continued reform efforts and social consciousness at all big box retailers.

Ha, not where I live. My local Wal-mart, in the middle of the Chicago suburbs, does not carry one lick of any kind of 'whole' food. Not one iota of organic. For the fairly large grocery section they have, it's ENTIRELY processed foods. I can't stand going there, it just makes my stomach turn.

Actually people, if you do a price comparison with Wal-mart grocery you soon realize that they have everybody fooled anyway. Wal-mart grocery prices are way above Kroger and Safeway on most (approx. 90%) of everyday items.

I had to laugh yesterday when my wife and I were in there to check tee-shirt prices and we realized we needed some Jello Pudding. Wal-mart brand pudding prices were even higher than name brand prices that I had noticed at Kroger from earlier this week, and the name brand (Jello) was outrageously priced. Do your homework before you do any shopping at Walmart; especially grocery.

Wal-mart's new marketing concept seems to be that they don't need one. Kinda seems to me that Wal-art has taken on a line of thinking that most consumers have "It's Wal-mart so it must be priced right"; this couldn't be further from the truth right now based on the store pricing structures that I have seen.

Did you know that all Wal-Mart general merchandise pricing is the same throughout the USA? Grocery, however is all over the map. I also compared several other brand name grocery items such as breads, tortillas, cookies, and Halloween candies and was taken aback at some of the pricing, especially on the Halloween candies based on other stores prices right now. I think it was like $12.00 for a 42 ounce varety Mars candy bar miniatures mix, that was about 30 to 40% above most stores prices that I've seen in the past few weeks for Halloween candy packs around the same weight for the Mars Brand minis.

This could just be another example of big corporations tweaking their marketing. Wal-Mart or any other grocery store most likely carries local produce. But like most other stores, they haven't been concerned with marketing that characteristic because the majority of customers don't care where the produce came from--just that the price is low. I remember years ago seeing some asparagus at my local supermarket that looked really nice. The tag on it said it was from a town about an hour from Chicago. But the sign said, "Asparagus" and had a price. I felt like walking around the produce dept. telling everyone that there was some great local asparagus for sale! I think, finally, the stores are realizing that that this could be a good marketing technique, and, they it won't even cost them anything (except more marketing costs.) When food is in season, it's at its best and most plentiful. Stores would be stupid not to sell it. I believe that walmart already sells and is now figuring out what it needs to do to get into the more altruistic and idealistic markets that it is having trouble getting into.

My local Walmart doesn't even has fresh fruit. All fruit has already been processed (cut up and packaged in plastic) before it even comes to the store. The entire produce section is the size of like... my apartment.

Well, if local farmers are supported, I am all for it. Haven't seen that at our local Walmart yet. I never buy any produce there. I mostly go there for canned products that cost double at other supermarkets. Our Walmart carries some organic items (Stonefield yogurt for example) and I purchase them.

To me, Walmart's trend toward resembling Whole Foods (and Whole Foods' movement in the other direction) is an example of convergent evolution -- they may come from two completely different environments but have oddly developed strikingly similar characteristics. It's also an example of vertical integration (a phrase I learned from Queen Latifah on 30 Rock last week), since by supporting local farmers who end up shopping at Walmart anyway, they're essentially paying themselves. They have essentially the same business model when it comes to employee compensation -- pay them so little that they're forced to supplement their income with food stamps, which they then use to buy food at Walmart. It's a win win for everyone.

In any case, I'm steering clear, since, as a Portlander, if I even wanted to go to a Walmart I'd have to drive past five farmers markets to get there.

nice work, portlandy. we should hang out.

Glad to hear the masses will now have easier access to local produce, but that doesn't make Walmart a hero in my book, just something they should have been doing all along. Now if we can get them to treat their employees like human beings and monitor the conditions of their overseas factories, you might actually have something good going.

Have you been in a Wal-Mart lately? Their selection of organics is outstanding. And thanks to Wal-Mart, most people who wouldn't normally have access to organics now have that option.

You have to think outside of your bubble. In a lot of the US, Wal-Mart isn't just something to brush off as low brow.

I agree with original post & the intelligent comments. My feelings are mixed - but at the end of the day, I'd rather get my local food from the market or CSA (and I realize I'm lucky to have that option - not all of America does.)

By shopping at HUGE corporations (even Whole Foods is getting there), I'm only giving more money to the obscenely rich and powerful.

Based on comments I've seen, my statement would be that even if Wal-Mart does start to carry organic produce and then venture into other quality organic foods, this will just create a price war which Wal-Mart will win just like they do all other price and purchase wars with huge corporate cash infusions.

After that war, they will cheapen the market for a few years, put good quality organic Grocers out of business, and still after that, they will then raise their prices on organics because of their huge share of the market place.

This they have already done with regular grocery prices (they don't care how high their prices are, they know people will shop there anyway.)

The Wal-pig will then purchase the market share in quality products because they can buy in such huge bulk which puts pressure on smaller markets and grocers that can't purchase millions of pounds at a time; and from that scenario it just goes on and on.

There really is no answer to the Wal-Mart crisis that this Country is in the grips of right now. The USA owes China huge amounts of cash right now, 90% of the items sold at Wal-Mart are made in China. Do you get the picture people?

GWobbs - even general merchandise is NOT priced the same across the country. I know, I work there and get this complaint often just between stores in the same 20 mile radius.

Organic produce would be a step in the right direction...as would more local produce.

However, when you consider how much produce is 'out of season' most of the year in the local regions in the North it is highly unlikely that any chain grocery store would carry more than a small percentage of locally grown produce most of the year. In a way my local wal-mart actually does a better job of this than some grocery stores because it only stocks some produce when it is in season (even if that season is Argentina) so there is less waste overall because we've all see what happens to the rack of $3.99 rasperberries in February.

One of the local chain stores here actually has a farmer's market in their parking lot once a week spring to fall. They've done it for a few years now.

Addendum - I actually won't buy the produce from Wal-mart because of bad personal experiences...so I'm not totally sold on their methods either. I just wish other grocery stores would also start carrying more locally grown produce and reducing the variety of out-of-season highly perishable produce they carry because it's always in sad shape by the time it hits the shelves.

Rachiti, You are mistaken about the GM prices, they are the same throughout the USA. I was told this straight up from a top level Wal-Mart executive from Bentonville that was visiting with my team. Verbatim, she told me that if you buy a shirt off the rack in Florida, that sirt will be the same price in Colorado.

Heh heh. I live in Los Angeles and I have no idea where I would find a WalMart. One of the great reasons to live here.

I still will never set foot in there.

Yay they're going to attempt to carry more local, but that still doesn't make them the quality corporation that I want to spend my money on. Their employment practices, etc still make me want to steer clear!

Heh heh. I live in New York City and there are no WalMarts here. One of the bazillion great reasons to live here!

I'm studying in the UK right now and in the grocery stores here, everything says where it is sourced from right on the package. Thanks to the recent push for local farming, a lot of them proudly say "British" or have the flag on the packaging. I think if Wal-Mart made it more obvious what 9% (or whatever increased percentage) of their produce is local, this could be a good thing.
I generally don't support Wal-Mart and the things they like to do though... How could they possibly do anything sustainably? And just like all of their other products, I worry about this pushing out the small operators. No matter if Wal-Mart's got it, I still want to walk through a greenmarket for my produce, not a warehouse.

Wal-Mart carrying local produce actually sounds completely in line with what Wal-Mart does: it eliminates any possibility for smaller, more local competitors to ensure that their profits will continue to increase, no matter the effect it has on someone else.

Even if this were really a positive thing all around, I still wouldn't support Wal-Mart because their inability to provide local produce ranks low on their list of offenses, in my opinion.

I currently live in a small town in Mississippi, thanks to the Navy, and really only have access to Wal-Mart and the Commissary on base. The Wal-Mart here really impressed me this summer with their produce, which was all from local farms (and delicious!). Their prices are consistently cheaper than the commissary even WITH taxes.
While some may scoff at supporting the mega company, for me it's a matter of putting food on the table without breaking the bank AND if it's local, so much the better!