What I find amazing is the use of the term "organic". Absolutely everything that you can grow is "organic". A rock is not organic.
So in reality they can grow anything and call it organic. When will people smarten up. On 3/27/2006, "Mike Weaver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >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/ > > > > _______________________________________________ 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/
