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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWalmart's Death Grip on Groceries Is Making Life Worse for Millions of People (Hard Times USA)
http://www.alternet.org/food/walmarts-death-grip-groceries-making-life-worse-millions-people-hard-times-usaWhen Michelle Obama visited a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, a few weeks ago to praise the company's efforts to sell healthier food, she did not say why she chose a store in Springfield of all cities. But, in ways that Obama surely did not intend, it was a fitting choice. This Midwestern city provides a chilling look at where Walmart wants to take our food system.
Springfield is one of nearly 40 metro areas where Walmart now captures about half or more of consumer spending on groceries, according to Metro Market Studies. Springfield area residents spend just over $1 billion on groceries each year, and one of every two of those dollars flows into a Walmart cash register. The chain has 20 stores in the area and shows no signs of slowing its growth. Its latest proposal, a store just south of the city's downtown, has provoked widespread protest. Opponents say Walmart already has an overbearing presence in the region and argue that this new store would undermine nearby grocery stores, including a 63-year-old family-owned business which still provides delivery for its elderly customers. A few days before the First Lady's visit, the City Council voted 5-4 to approve what will be Walmart's 21st store in the community.
As Springfield goes, so goes the rest of the country, if Walmart has its way. Nationally, the retailer's share of the grocery market now stands at 25 percent. That's up from 4 percent just 16 years ago. Walmart's tightening grip on the food system is unprecedented in U.S. history. Even A&P often referred to as the Walmart of its day accounted for only about 12 percent of grocery sales at its height in the 1940s. Its market share was kept in check in part by the federal government, which won an antitrust case against A&P in 1946. The contrast to today's casual acceptance of Walmart's market power could not be more stark.
Having gained more say over our food supply than Monsanto, Kraft, or Tyson, Walmart has been working overtime to present itself as a benevolent king. It has upped its donations to food pantries, reduced sodium and sugars in some of its store-brand products, and recast its relentless expansion as a solution to "food deserts." In 2011, it pledged to build 275-300 stores "in or near" low-income communities lacking grocery stores. The Springfield store Obama visited is one of 86 such stores Walmart has since opened. Situated half a mile from the southwestern corner of a census tract identified as underserved by the USDA, the store qualifies as "near" a food desert. Other grocery stores are likewise perched on the edge of this tract. Although Walmart has made food deserts the vanguard of its PR strategy in urban areas, most of the stores the chain has built or proposed in cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. are in fact just blocks from established supermarkets, many unionized or locally owned. As it pushes into cities, Walmart's primary aim is not to fill gaps but to grab market share.
2Design
(9,099 posts)I sure hope they lose that battle - publix has good prices and better quality and pays their people better - well anyone pays better than WalMart
littlewolf
(3,813 posts)place we shopped. now it is mostly food lion and farm fresh and farm stands.
do not usually go to wal mart for food.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)My Mom & brothers frequently visit these, and they seem prolific. One of the best places for fresh produce from local farmers is Waldo Flea Market. Quite the place: Tools, boiled peanuts, head shop (separate area), fruits & veggies, roosters, jewelry, guns, flowers -- all in the middle of rural N. Florida.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Aldi Foods rips them a new bung when it comes to pricing, and the quality matches anyones.
Fuck the Waltons.
cali
(114,904 posts)many people don't have much of an option.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)WTF?
MattBaggins
(7,894 posts)Aldi's food is disgusting tasteless crap.
Cucumbers in a shell of wax that won't come of unless you boil them
Gross hamburger that is going bad half the time
Cheese that has no taste whatsoever
Blech
I am no fan of Walmarts but Aldi's is gross.
joeglow3
(6,228 posts)sorefeet
(1,241 posts)IT'S CHEAPER. Frozen blackberries 30 cents cheaper, granola bars, BEER. Prescription was $150.00 at Wal-Mart and right across the street at Walgreen it was $75.00 (hydrocodone) which is a scam medicine anyway. America is a scam.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)Support your local unions!
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Coyotl
(15,262 posts)I'm guessing most people are smart enough to get the connection.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)they don't see the connection; it's too abstract. All they know are the prices they see in front of them every week.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)rurallib
(62,342 posts)Ford_Prefect
(7,817 posts)local and regional branded stores being priced too high comparatively.
In North Carolina there is competition, Trader Joe's, Costco and Target, but they are only located near high end neighborhoods. Due to rising gas prices if you live in a smaller town or in the country your choices are rapidly getting quite limited regardless of brand preference, food quality preferences, or income level. Local farms are a healthy option but not particularly affordable in some cases and do not supply the whole range of needs.
Walmart corporate seems to be effective at plundering the Interstate based supply system and has no doubt participated in the evolution of towns and cities away from neighborhood sourced business. They have taken Henry Ford's model of production line manufacture and efficiently applied it to food sales. They strangle us politically and financially by effectively recreating the "company store" ethos. They drive down local and regional wages as well.
With such an Oligarchy of Walton, Koch and Pope (et al) how do mere peasants survive? The marketplace is not free!
sadbear
(4,340 posts)Capitalism, by it's very nature, is malevolent. Wal-Mart and Monsanto are just two of the most successful examples of capitalism. We won't be rid of either until we rid ourselves of capitalism.
Ford_Prefect
(7,817 posts)Walmart and Monsanto are examples of unregulated Capitalism. When regulation fails or is circumvented predatory behavior runs rampant across the economy. It tends to be equally true no matter the economic model.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)devouring our money for the benefit of just one family.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)of the bunch.
Jazzgirl
(3,744 posts)Michelle Obama visited in Springfield as in a food desert area. I can think of at least 3-4 grocery stores within 5 miles of it. I am from Springfield. I don't live there any more (haven't in 30 years) but still visit and have family and friends there. I can't even really think of any area in Springfield that is a "food desert".
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)I wouldn't describe where I live as a food desert either but my closest grocery store is five miles, it's a daunting trip without a car and with no sidewalks.
How much can you carry five miles?