Walmart Organic....I just dont trust walmart

[mypinkbow]

They are certified thru USDA Organic Qualty Assurance International??????
distributed by Pacific Gold Farms in Watsonville CA

[Sheryl]

I think it really comes down to differing levels of organic. Stores like Walmart need a HUGE supply of organic. They aren't going to be getting organic from a little mom and pop farm that's been growing organic for 40 years. They will either own or contract a regular farm to go organic, wait until it's certified, then sell the produce.

This happened here with the large supermarkets initially using the small organic growers (many who we know from markets) then doing a sudden switch over to 'in conversion' organic just a year later. The organic standards here in Australia work like this:

1) Decide to go organic
2) Register intent / do paperwork and switch to organic methods
3) Wait one year
4) Second year you can sell with all logos for organic (with a little 'in conversion' note)
5) Year 3+ you are fully organic

I prefer to buy from local farmers who have been doing this kind of thing much longer, who have their heart in what they do.

I can taste the difference!!

Sheryl

PS I know not everyone has access to organic farmers markets like me - I am very lucky. It's all about finding the best you can right where you are!

[NoGMO!]

They are certified thru USDA Organic Qualty Assurance International??????
distributed by Pacific Gold Farms in Watsonville CA

mypinkbow,
this might help, I hope. this is an excerpt from the Satya article I mentioned in a post above. the whole article can be found at http://www.satyamag.com/apr06/cummins.html

"Can you discuss the corporate takeover of the organic food market?
Well the good news is there is a huge demand on the part of health conscious and environmentally conscious consumers for organic products. On the downside, right now there is a shortage of organic foods and ingredients in the marketplace. And unfortunately, corporations are noting this huge demand and are not only moving into the organic sector, but doing it in a way which is not helping American farmers and ranchers go organic. Instead, they are basically degrading organic standards, bending the rules and starting to outsource from slave labor and exploitive nations such as China for organic foods and ingredients."

isn't that sad?

[Oceana]

You guys are probably right; but I LOVE my walmart!
I have a VERY limited budget and walmart lets me stretch my money further.

For example;
when i buy kotex at my local store (1 block away) they want 8.99 for 14 overnight pads

walmart I pay 2 for 5.00$

With a very heav flow I need MORE for my money!

I (like most) have to shop without breaking the bank.

But I understand what you are saying!

[NoGMO!]

I have a VERY limited budget

boy, I can relate!!! no offense, just passing along free information and opinions. cheers

[Sheryl]

Oceana - check out http://www.thekeeper.com/

I bought one about 5 years ago, and literally had not spent a penny on monthly supplies since. It might sound a little strange, but takes only a very small amount of time to get used to. The cost savings is so huge, as well as the savings to the environment.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[Oceana]

Oceana - check out http://www.thekeeper.com/

I bought one about 5 years ago, and literally had not spent a penny on monthly supplies since. It might sound a little strange, but takes only a very small amount of time to get used to. The cost savings is so huge, as well as the savings to the environment.

Cheers,
Sheryl

No; my flow is to heavey and messy for that!
I dont like the idea of putting something ~inside~.

[Sharon in Colorado]

The Diva cup I hear is great too. Oceana you might want to check this out - women with very heavy cycles have been raving about them. I use back up cloth pads, but leakage is very rare - the cup and the cloth pads just feel so much nicer, I haven't bought tampons or disposable pads in so long, and I'm not contributing to wasting resources.

[Denise Nicole]

I found this video, I do like JibJab:
http://www.jibjab.com/JokeBox/JokeBo...px?movieid=122

[berrymarymac]

I found this video, I do like JibJab:
http://www.jibjab.com/JokeBox/JokeBo...px?movieid=122

Haha, I love JibJab!!!

[alex]

Walmart may be the most unethical company on the planet. I haven't bought or gone near a WalMart in over four years and don't plan on ever going back.

Here is an interesting article:

Very interesting read !
What every American (or Canadian) needs to know about Walmart
The owners of one of America's premiere retail corporations is comprised of five of the ten richest people in the world, all from the same family. Their personal wealth eclipses $100 BILLION dollars. Last year the companies CEO was paid a cool $11.5 million, more than the annual salaries of 765 of his employees combined! The company's profits are over $7 BILLION annually. In these difficult economic times how do they do it?
- This company runs ads featuring the United States flag and proclaims "We Buy American". In 2001 they moved their worldwide purchasing headquarters to China and are the largest importer of Chinese goods in the US, purchasing over $10 BILLION of Chinese-made products annually. Products made mostly by women and children working in the labor hell-holes China is famous for. - Their average employee working in the US makes $15,000 a year, $7.22 per hour!
- The company brags that 70% of their employees are full time, but fails to disclose that they count anyone working 28 hours a week or more as full time.
- There are no health care benefits unless you have worked for the company for two years.
- With a turnover rate averaging above 50% per year, only 38% of their 1.3 million employees have health care coverage.
-In California alone it's estimated that the taxpayers pay over $20 million annually to subsidize health care benefits for these employees who get none from this behemoth corporation.
- According to a report by PBS's "Now" with Bill Moyer, their managers are trained in what government social programs are available for these "employees" to take advantage of so that the company can pass on those costs to you and me. It allows them to not only keep their $7 BILLION in annual profits, but to do so by substituting benefits they refuse to provide with benefits paid for with taxpayer dollars.
- This company holds the record for the most suits filed against it by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A lawyer from "Business Week" (not exactly the bastion for supporting Labor) said, "I have never seen this kind of blatant disregard for the law." They had to pay $750,000.00 in Arizona for blatant discrimination against the disabled! The judge was so incensed that he also order them to run commercials admitting their guilt.
- The National Labor Relations Board has issued over 40 formal complaints against the corporation in 25 different states in just the past five years. The NLRB's top lawyer believed that their labor violations, such as illegal spying on employees, fraudulent record keeping, falsifying time cards to avoid paying overtime, threats, illegal firings for union organizing etc., were so widespread that he was looking into filing a very rare national complaint against the company.
- Nearly 1 MILLION women are involved in the largest class-action suit ever filed against a corporation. Although women make up over 65% of this corporations work force only 10% of them are managers. The women who have become store managers make $16,400 a year LESS then the men.
- The corporation took out nearly 350,000 life insurance policies on their employees. They did not tell the employees and then named the corporation as the beneficiary. They are now being sued by numerous employees, and although the corporation has stopped this practice of purchasing what is known as "Dead Peasant Policy's", a company spokesperson stated, "The company feels it acted properly and legally in doing this."
- They force employees to work after ordering them to punch out. In Texas alone this practice of "wage theft" is estimated to have cost employees $30 million per year. Wage theft or "off-the-clock" lawsuits are pending in 25 states. In New Mexico they paid $400,000.00 in one suit and in Colorado they had to pay $50 MILLION to settle one class-action case brought against them.
In Oregon a jury found them guilty of locking employees in the building and of forcing unpaid overtime.
- With 4,400 stores they practice "predatory pricing." They come into a community and sell their goods at below cost until they drive local businesses under. Once they have captured the market the prices go up.
- Locally owned and operated businesses put virtually all of their money back into the community which helps keep the local economies vibrant. This corporation sucks the money out of the local community, decreases wages and benefits and ships the profits out of state.
- This company doesn't buy locally or bank locally. They replace three decent paying jobs in a community with two poorly paid "part- timers". - In Kirksville, Missouri when this company came to town, four clothing stores, four grocery stores, a stationary store, a fabric store and a lawn-and-garden store all went under. Eleven businesses are now gone.
(The above information can be found in "Thieves in High Places", James Hightower, The Penguin Group, New York, NY, 2003 p. 166 193.)
Now you know how they can claim, "Always low prices." Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world, larger than General Motors and Exxon Mobil. Wal-Mart will reap over 250 billion in sales in 2003, which is larger then the entire gross national product of Israel and Ireland combined.
It has over 1.3 million employees. It sells more groceries, jewelry, photo processing, dog food, and vitamins than any other chain in the world.
Wal-Mart is owned by the Walton family.
Only we, the citizens of this great country can stop this race to the bottom.
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
And to realize that a lot of our products are even cheaper than Walmarts!


alex

[Lay-Lay]

I don't care how tight my budget is, how cheap Walmart has something, how much organic they have I will not shop there. I have seen them go into so many towns and promise all these jobs. People arer then so grateful for them. But what is not realized is they cause just as many people to lose their jobs. They put out most of the mom and pop stores. I think it is sooo sad. If walmart has watermelonn for $3.99 and my mom and pop store has them for $9.99, well mom and pop store here I come. It is worth the extra dollars I do not have. Those mom and pop stores are in part what makes up real communities. Walmart in my opinion makes a community so commercial and sucks the life out of our hometowns.

I ask all of you to support you local mom and pops stores in anyway you can.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Hey, you gotta love Walmart. If it wasn't for Walmart, then all those lawyers and website developers would have nothing better to do, and the "victims" who got their huge settlements would now have to work for a living.

Thank goodness we live in a country where we all can choose to shop at any store we wish.