Hogwash. USDA Organic doesn't MEAN ANYTHING.
Keith Addison wrote: >http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/24/D8GI7S484.html > >Wal-Mart's Organics Could Shake Up Retail > >Mar 24 6:17 PM US/Eastern > >By MARCUS KABEL >Associated Press Writer > >BENTONVILLE, Ark. > >Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is throwing its weight behind organic products, >a move that experts say could have the same lasting effect on >environmental practices that Wal-Mart has had on prices by forcing >suppliers and competitors to keep up. > >Putting new items on the shelf this year, from organic cotton baby >clothes to ocean fish caught in ways that don't harm the environment, >is part of a broader green policy launched last year to meet consumer >demand, cut costs for things like energy and packaging and burnish a >battered reputation. > >Organic products are one lure for the more affluent shoppers Wal-Mart >is trying to woo away from rivals like Target Corp., said Alice >Peterson, president of Chicago-based consultancy Syrus Global. > >A new Supercenter that opened this week in the Dallas suburb of Plano >features over 400 organic foods as part of an experiment to see what >kinds of products and interior decor can grab the interest of upscale >shoppers. > >"Like many big companies, they have figured out it is just good >marketing and good reputation building to be in favor of things that >Americans are increasingly interested in," Peterson said. > >Wal-Mart's Lee Scott is not the first chief executive to advocate >sustainability, a term for the corporate ethos of doing business in a >way that benefits the environment. Industrial giant General Electric >Co., for example, last year launched a program called "Ecomagination" >to bring green technologies like wind power to market. > >What makes Wal-Mart's efforts unique, sustainability experts say, is >the retailer's sheer size and the power that gives it in relations >with suppliers. Wal-Mart works closely with suppliers to shape their >goods, if they want them on the shelves of Wal-Mart's nearly 4,000 >U.S. stores and over 2,200 internationally. > >"They have huge potential because it's not just Wal-Mart we're >talking about, it's their entire supply chain," said Jeff Erikson, >U.S. director of London-based consultancy and research group >SustainAbility. The group says it does not do any consulting work for >Wal-Mart. > >Erikson said Wal-Mart could bring the same pressure it has exerted >over the years on prices and apply that to pushing manufacturers and >competitors to adopt more sustainable business practices and larger >organic offerings. > >"We love to see companies like Wal-Mart taking a big step and making >pronouncements as they have, because their tentacles are so large," >Erikson said. > >Wal-Mart plans to double its organic grocery offerings in the next >month and continue looking for more products to offer in areas such >as grocery, apparel, paper and electronics. > >Stephen Quinn, vice president of marketing, told an analysts' >conference this month that Wal-Mart would have 400 organic food items >in stores this summer "at the Wal-Mart price." > >Some Wal-Mart critics call the effort just a public relations job. >But others say Wal-Mart could make a real difference if the retailer >brings a critical mass of organic products to market and pushes >enough suppliers to adopt green practices. > >Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope, who is a board member of >the union-backed group Wal-Mart Watch that criticizes the retailer, >said it is too soon to tell if Wal-Mart will deliver but that the >impact could be good for the environment. > >"I think the direction they've said is a positive direction. The >question is, `Are they are going to go there strongly enough?'" Pope >said. > >Some of the new items will be seafood caught in the wild. Wal-Mart >last month announced a plan to have all its wild-caught fish, which >accounts for about a third of seafood sales, certified by the Marine >Stewardship Council as caught in a sustainable way. > >The London-based MSC, founded in 1997 as a venture of the >conservation group World Wildlife Fund and global consumer products >company Unilever, issues the certificates to let consumers know which >fisheries avoid overfishing and use methods that don't damage the >ocean environment. > >Sustainability experts say what makes this program interesting is >that Wal-Mart will work with its suppliers to get more fisheries >around the globe certified by MSC, instead of just buying up the >existing stock of certified fish. > >Wal-Mart says this means there will be more sustainable fish that >will also be available to Wal-Mart's competitors, such as Whole Foods >Market, which already sells about 18 MSC certified items, according >to the MSC Web site. Wal-Mart plans to offer between 200 and 250 >items. > >The way Wal-Mart hatched the fish plan is typical of how it operates. > >Peter Redmond, vice president and divisional merchandise manager in >charge of deli and seafood, said he conceived the idea after meeting >MSC board chairman Will Martin last fall. Wal-Mart and MSC worked out >details and then Wal-Mart called in its 25 to 30 fish wholesalers in >January to tell them it was switching to MSC certified seafood. > >Wal-Mart developed a plan to work with its suppliers to encourage >fisheries to adopt MSC practices. The plan includes barring its >suppliers from switching fisheries in the first year to 18 months, >giving the suppliers more reason to promote the changes. > >"We don't want to walk away from a fishery just because it is in >fairly poor shape or poor shape," Redmond said. "We want to try and >recover that (non-certified) fishery to where it becomes a >sustainable fishery. Our point being that if we just go for >sustainable fisheries, it won't be enough at the end of the day >unless we recover a lot of these that are in trouble now," he added. > >The term fishery refers to a particular species of fish and the fleet >that harvests them. Redmond said about 60 percent of the fisheries >that Wal-Mart buys from now can be brought up to MSC standards within >a year or two, and the remainder may need three to five years to >change. > >Redmond says the decision to go with sustainable fish came after Lee >Scott launched the environmental policy last fall and fits Scott's >maxim of "doing well by doing good". > >"The environmental piece is a company (policy) plank. Secondly and >probably the main reason is, when I look at seafood now and how many >dollars it does now and how many dollars it's going to do in four >years, I'm extremely concerned that that product is simply not going >to be there." > >"So we have to take the position that if I want to have hake five or >six years from now, we as a company have to get involved and do >something because I don't think it'll be there for us otherwise," >Redmond said. > >Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. > > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/