After suffering seven straight quarters of losses, today the merchandise giant Wal-Mart will announce that it is “going back to basics,” ending its era of high-end organic foods, going “green,” and the remainder of its appeal to the upscale market. Next month the company will launch an “It’s Back” campaign to woo the millions of customers who have fled the store.
(Settle down. You had to know I was going there eventually.)
Related – “A bitter harvest”.
Yeah, what’s more organic than pig shit or any other shit?
Thinking about osmosis, going for organics can have it’s risks if the expression, “you are what you eat” has any bearing.
I have no quarrel with the farmers who want to cash in on it, but the fact remains that while organic gets the press, Monsanto feeds the world.
Hey!! Stop making pig shit look bad by associating it with organics.
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/bitter+harvest/4592957/story.html
…merchandise giant Wal-Mart will announce that it is “going back to basics,”
.
When they bring back the firearms display to the Walmart in my area, then I’ll believe this!
.
I’ve had to work on land that’s certified organic, and I wouldn’t miss it. Not only is it a pain to access, it’s always the most weed infested mess you’ve ever seen. It’s very difficult to reclaim it without chemicals. As for manure, I refuse to use it on any reclamation. It’s the biggest source of weeds out there. Farmers will often request it, so they can sell it to you, but I absolutely refuse to use it.
That comment about Monsanto feeding the world is the real “inconvenient truth”. Having a choice is okay, but the population would be a lot smaller without the chemical option.
Thanks Joe, for the link.
A Canadian grown tomatoe (large) costs almost a buck at the “No Frills” poor-people’s grocer. One (1) tomatoe.
If I go downtown on my bicyle and buy tomatoes at the organic “hippy” market (you know the “anti-capitalist” type dressed in ripped blue jeans) then one (1) tomatoe costs between $1.50 – $2.00.
Whether you buy your tomatoes at a no-frills grocer — where it’s cheaper although the manager and workers dress in suits and ties and there’s air conditioning — or you go to your organic hippy market — where it’s more expensive and everybody dresses like bums, TOMATOES ARE TOO EXPENSIVE EVERYWHERE ANYMORE.
Most organic vegetables look repulsive and are covered in scabs and sores and it’s a good guess you’ll end up finding bugs in organic fruits or veggies.
Rose,
I was into organic farming back in the 70’s before it became “mainstream”. We had a saying: “If the bugs won’t eat it, how can you expect humans to eat it?”
No field testing of organic produce? That’s the
last time I eat any!
Re WalMart – the aggregate wealth of the Waltons
exceeded $100 billion. To bring in a green leftist
creep is so egreggious that they make Junior Bronfman look like an astute businessman.
“grown in Chinese, Mexican, or Brazilian pig shit”.
Now who wouldn’t want that?
I just hope it’s not grown in some other kind of crap that I will not even mention!
Organic – Just another way of saying “I spray at night”
Back to basics, from the “Coke Classic” fiasco series.
Then there’s the old saying, oft ignored….If it Aint Broke, don’t fix it.
Chinese organics are probably grown in the toxic tailing ponds from those heavy metals mines they need for wind generators.
‘Organic’ is a word.
That is all. It means a number of things to a number of people, depending on context. As a result, it has become the buzzword for the “greenwashing” marketing campaign to dupe people who prefer to ‘feel’ better about what they are eating as opposed to ‘knowing’ better.
It isn’t so much how the food is grown that is the issue but what we grow and why we grow it. When it comes to crop choice, yield has taken the front seat from nutritional value.
As has transportability, shelf life, and appearance. As it is with most aspects of modern society, ‘image’ is more important than ‘substance’. We are essentially feeding ourselves filler when buying supermarket produce.
Great quote from the comments on the Walmart story.
“AGW useful tools take notice: when you’ve lost Wal-Mart, you’ve lost the world.”
Ive been noticing the slow flow of people at Walmart for over a year. Now I know why.
They got rid of most of the electronics department.
The cloths whee cheaper elsewhere. In fact almost anywhere. The parking was atrocious with almost half the parking lot handicapped.
Knowing the greens where running the buisness shows. Its simple arithmetic to see the Luddites with their “progressive” attitudes . Yet again destroy another buisness. Not surprising when you see these Socialists with a green brain have annihilated whole Nations with their stupidity.
These people are not fit to be garbageman, let alone run a buisness.
Thanks Kate I wondered why the store was dying.
JMO
If one wants to be sure how a certain crop is grown, one must do it oneself.
I wouldn’t want anything from China, period, and certainly not food from there.
PET Cemetery Report.
Our chef-Ammurrican, Liberal Count Ignatieff, has an offer youse can’t refuse.
Go for socialism. Try a heapin’ helping on Moi. Free.
Come to our fulltable. Come all ye …..
“Socialism is in fact nothing but the religion of the Stomach.”
http://www.fulltable.com/iip/adeba.htm
So…
Wal Mart sent their upscale,
tree hugging,
dirt loving, manager packing? good.
Now the Chinese Wally World middle managers will buy fruits and vegetables from Mexico,
put lead in it,
sell it back to us.
gives new meaning to the term
‘Overweight American.’
Kate, not only does Monsanto feed the world, but they preserve the environment. Monsanto employees earned the peace prize that Al Gore should never have received.
What farm system has the highest fossil fuel use per unit of production (or even per acre)? Organic
What farm system has the highest wind and water soil erosion? Organic
What farm system is most prone to depleting soil organic matter? Organic
My wife spent several months last year buying up closeout stock from Walmart fabric departments. She never did understand why they were closing. Now she knows the rest of the story. Al Gore just lost another AGW agnostic. She is already calling the local stores to find out which ones are restarting the ‘heritage’ departments.
Coach and WalterF nail it. The organic farms in my neck of woods are the one with the filthy fields and poorer crops.
One of my brothers-in-law is in the fruit business, both raising and marketing and has visited organic farms in Southern Europe, Chile and Peru. He told us that the people here would never buy the stuff again if they saw what they put on the trees and plants.
To some extent it is a scam just like AGW.
When I was an undergrad, there were two forms of chemistry – organic and inorganic. Organic chemistry was the study of carbon based compounds. I don’t think that has changed in the ensuing years, though carbon is now a ‘really bad element’ among the latte sipping set. I guess the meaning of the word ‘organic’ has shifted in the same way as the meaning of other words (eg ‘gay’). Organic now means ‘expensive’ with the connotation that it is best avoided by real people.
I have no problem with organic veggies… as long as they’ve been irradiated. Great taste, kills the bugs, and has a much longer shelf life. Too bad it’s not available.
Bring back irradiation for produce please!
Many, many years ago when I was very young we had an apple orchard. OK, it wasn’t much of an orchard, just four trees. Every year, father would regularly spray them with various pesticides as prescribed.
And every year the crop would come in 100% loaded with railway worm. It happened because there was no similar suppression of such pests for many miles around. Pest suppression works best, like immunization, when it’s done widely. So, to what extent is so-called organic farming making life more difficult for other farmers?
Chris, it may interest you to know that even though Canada invented the technique of food irradiation Canada is the MOST backward country in the entire OECD for allowing irradiation on foodstuffs. The blame can be placed squarely and solely on Health Canada. They had applications before them for red meat and poultry in 1993. They’ve sat on those applications for the past 18 years, even though salmonella alone kills about 800 people in Canada every year.
And every time there’s an outbreak no one ever holds those b*stard fed bureaucrats to account.
I hate to sound smug,well actually I don’t hate it at all, but WE HUNTERS have been proponents of organic meat for years!
The ain’t nuthin’ more organic than a good northern B.C. moose!
Mischa sends me an email every so often on the subject, here is a link “http://www.isitorganic.ca/” to a talk he gave at Tiffin Conference this March and another article at American Thinker,”http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/warmists_and_the_organic_farmi.html”
We were ALL organic farmers once.Some of us smartened up and saw the weeds and soil erosion and decided that both had to end.No till farming is just that,NO EROSION or very little and by doing this we have sustainable agriculture.Organic is called slash and burn agriculture in most countries.
…Monsanto feeds the world.
Funny, haven’t seen them on a combine…hopefully never gets vertically integrated to that point. If that happens expect to see the cost of a bushel of wheat equal a barrel of oil.
Public corporations are almost as inefficient as gov’t.
Someone please tell me how those Chinese garlic coils are so bright white and have a very sharp bite when chewing alone.
I thought garlic was beige and had a bit of an edge but not enough to gag one.
Alberta Clipper, you’re correct with the organic chemistry. Organic simply means contains carbon.
Some hippy, while in a pot stupor, had to have mistaken organic for orgasm and hence the organic fad was born.
When someone mentions “organic” I remind them it is all organic including the 2-4D. It sure steams the fanatics.
My dad deceased 1984…saw a bit of this in his time and commented…..”organic food?…that’s the ugly stuff with the hair on it…..”
Saw a “documentary” on TVO just now about global food supplies and sustainability. Some Brit lefty was whinning about “African Beans being eaten in Britain which could feed African kids….”
Great! One of Africa’s biggest hurdles has been penetrating the EU closed markets for produce…..
Then there was the usual combination of AGW, evil GMO’s, peak oil, and even the surprising news that India’s successful “Green Revolution” was failing…..
I phoned a neighbour, a Sikh chicken farmer, and asked if he had heard this from his homeland…he pronouced BS…..He said his kin are year by year getting increased yields…despite UN “experts” giving bad advise…..recommending return to the old ways……
I fail to see the issue here. Perhaps it is because I practise what some now call organic, but which was just common sense agriculture. I am not certified organic, since I find some of their requirements overboard. That is just my opinion, so I do not criticise those who choose certified organic nor those who do not care how their food is produced. The bottom line is that there should be freedom of choice.
In town every supermarket, including Superstore (Wal Mart equivalent) offers organic as a choice. Clearly it is a case of market demand, especially since the organic section continues to get larger. Were there no market, these stores would drop organic produce like a hot potato. From the story that seems to be the case with Wal Mart.
I have no quarrel with those who want to sell or buy it, either. My problem is with the propaganda campaign against GMO, pesticides, in the name of elevating organic to something it isn’t.
Here in Arizona I note that the “organic” sections of Fry’s and Safeway are small and the prices only sightly higher. The hippie friendly Sprouts and Whole Foods stores also have organic -sections-, they’ve completely given up on the idea of going 100% organic because they can’t stay in business that way. From talking to the kids who work there, the employees don’t shop in the store. Too expensive.
The people here in the South West are seriously turning against all this hippie-dippie crapola, with their wallets.
Trust Walmart to see the handwriting on the wall first and go with it. They didn’t get to be the biggest by being dummies.
As to heirloom tomatoes, I’m growing some this year… after the fricking frost leaves off, anyway. You can get some different flavors and colours from them. Maybe some spuds too.
But oh yes, they will be sprayed if bugs come. We are surrounded by hay fields so it should be ok, but I’ve got my heirloom sprayer in the garage. Princess Auto still sells a small tow-behind powered sprayer too. Hitch that baby on my Ransomes machine and kill me some bugs.