Hate Walmart and how it impacts the environment?

[progressivebydesign]

Think that the store is hurting the environment by importing so much crap from China? Is it disastrous to the environment to have so much fuel burned to import things from other countries just to make a buck? How about selling imported goods when American producers are ready and willing to sell their wares to the store?

Think I'm still talking about Walmart?

Nope. Talking about Trader Joes. I've just made my last visit to a Trader Joes. Spent a fair amount of money there a few weeks ago, only to find: Broccoli grown in China, Asparagus from Peru, Green Beans from Guatemala, Canned black beans from China, Artichoke hearts from China, Frozen entrees MADE in China. So, I went back there the other night and conciously looked for countries of origin on my favorite frozen items, and canned items. 15% of the frozen veggies were grown in America.. most were from China or other countries. Just because you see a USDA Organic seal on foods there, does not mean it came from our soil, it can be grown anywhere.

I know we all love Trader Joes, but the love affair is over. They ARE the Walmart of specialty grocers. Anything for a buck.. even if it means burning thousands of gallons of fuel to ship foods from China to your local Trader Joes. The irreverent and fun TJ image is a marketing front for a corporate structure that is no better than Walmart. The non-Conglomerate farmers in America are being squeezed out by corporate buying practices.

I also checked out my local corporate grocery store.. QFC (Owned by Kroger). I was hard pressed to find any American produced veggies there, either. All imported. I think the Eat Locally movement is my new passion. We are being forced into a consumer economy by companies like Walmart, Kroger, and now.. Trader Joes. It's just sad.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Don't take it personally.

It's the entire retail system; Trader Joes' is not immune to prevailing economic conditions.

I no longer get angry at these companies, unless they are politically active and support ratbags. They do what they have to, to stay in business. It's a case of the frenzied animal chasing its own tail.

Someday, the crazed chase will end. It will probably not be a pleasant occurrence.

--p!

[Systematic Chaos]

2. I'm really pissed to hear that as well, BUT...

as long as I live in the desert where nearly ALL of our produce is shipped from SOMEWHERE, I will do my best to stick with Trader Joes because they STILL sell the same foreign-grown produce for far less than the grocery chains do. Maybe they cut corners like everyone else but they still do NOT price gouge on just about any of their staple items. They figure that most people will yield to the temptations of all the exclusive or hard-to-find goodies they have strewn everywhere to make some profit. I can't rightly blame them for that either because even bona fide health food stores do that to some degree.

[progressivebydesign]

4. Yes.. their prices are low on staples, like Walmart

That's why Walmart shoppers shop at Walmart. They can be that cheap because they import everything... I agree with lots of what you wrote, but broccoli and basic vegetables are not hard to find, unless of course.. as you know, you're in the desert or on an island.

For me, the big issue is how much pollution is caused by importing goods from other countries, when they are readily available here in the US. At some point Americans have to insist that the corporate "anything to make a buck" business does not destroy the fabric of our country, by turning producers into consumers. America doesn't have to import food, we used to be food producers. I guess that's my point. It's one thing, as you know, importing veggies that cannot be grown in your own area.. but the veggies can come from Salinas, California or somewhere in Texas, not necessarily China.

[Double T]

3. corporate america is handing over America to foreign nations........

without firing one shot or spending hundreds of billions of dollars on military weapons and infrastructure. It is remarkable that the sellout of America has been allowed to occur with tremendous assistance from the federal government. Won't be long till most of us have to become subsistence farmers living in our shacks and huts, once again eating our own American grown food.

[progressivebydesign]

5. I tell ya, that's where I'm headed... self sustaining.

I've been very interested in the locavore idea. The goal of eating foods that are within a certain radius of where you live. There's even a book out by a man that lives in the desert in Arizona, all about how he tried to eat everything grown and produced locally. Part of that is also eating seasonally, which I think is part of the problem.. we've gotten away from understanding that you can't have some fruits and veggies fresh year round, unless they come from another part of the world.

I don't know why but this issue has become very near and dear to my heart. I'm a California girl who is transplanted now in the Pacific Northwest. I took for granted my local farmers markets with local farmers and good produce. If I return to Cali, which I might, it'll be for the produce mostly!

I just find the small subject of imported fruits and veggies to be fascinating as it relates to bigger issues, like fuel used to transport imported foods, the dessimation of small and mid-sized farmers, the phasing out of our history as a producing nation.. to a shopping nation, and how our heritages are being lost with it.

For now, I'm a label shopper, refusing to buy imported produce and food items. Trying to buy American made products as much as possible in general, and cancelling credit cards and business relationships with companies that send jobs overseas. I'm not an isolationist, but I want to do something to stem the tide of turning us all into customers instead of producers. Ask anyone in the textile industry about what happened to North Carolina and other places when everything shifted overseas.

Okay.. off my soapbox. Sorry..

[Double T]

7. 'WE' all need to follow your path...........

eventually THEY will get OUR message. I have been doing as you are doing, but we need the help of many more to have a noticeable affect.

[kestrel91316]

6. Kestrel's version of the 100-mile Diet:

Let's call it Eating With a Conscience............

Buy food produced within 100 miles of your home.
If something isn't grown that close, the next best choice is food produced organically from as close as possible.
If you can't get that either, then shoot for food from a family farm from anywhere.

Get it? It's not hard. Could even be healthy (pretty much rules out most junk food, fast food, and highly processed/mass produced food.

You do the best you can. It WILL make a difference.

I am shopping more at Whole Foods now, for the stuff I can't get from the farmer's market. I like how WF labels all their produce for country (and US state) of origin. I can get Bakersfield potatoes. Who knew??

My own choice is to get foods grown in CA south of a line drawn between SF and Reno. There is too little growing going on within 100 miles of my part of Los Angeles.

[progressivebydesign]

11. Yeah, that's my vision, too!! I strive local, then West Coast, then America.

I'm at the point that if I can't get it grown by a farmer here in America, then I don't need it.. and can wait until the season to get it. It's just so disheartening to go to a market in Washington, during strawberry season, and see strawberries from Mexico and Central America. The farmer's market type stores here sell fresh produce that is mostly produced on the west coast, but it's sad to see that even in season they're selling fruit from other countries IN a fruit stand biz!

I miss California.. sniff sniff. I lived in San Luis Obsipo County, which has the most amazing farmer's markets.

ON EDIT.. I think the thing that really pushes me over the edge is to see things like Emeril Lagasse's own brand of tomatoes, etc., are all grown in other countries (and this is during the season where they'd be available normally). Maybe I'm just not a good little capitalist, because I can't get past the 'anything to make a buck' mentality. d'oh! :spank:

[Sherman A1]

8. Whoaaaa!

With 30+ years in retail grocery and 20 of that in the produce department I would like to add what I believe to be an important point here..

It's Winter........

Right now most of your fresh veggies will be imported. If you want fresh soft fruit (peaches, plums, berries, etc) they have to be imported as well.

Potatoes, Onions, Oranges, other citrus and Apples, etc are from storage, but most everything has to come from where the growing season is producing.

Eat locally if you believe that is in your best interest and I do not totally disagree with the concept, but if the growing season does not allow for a 12 month cycle of production of what you want, you can either do without or by something imported even if it is from the next state.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. True, up to a point...

If you want to buy fresh fruit & veg out of season, it either going to be imported or grown in greenhouses (which is usually too expensive for most people). You could go down the route of stocking up on local produce in season and preserving it yourself, but it seems to be something of a dying art these days: My parents still spend most of autumn in the kitchen producing huge vats of piccalilli, jam, and pickles, but they're in the minority. You could also get into DIY canned food or just freezing the stuff (given a big enough freezer).

But a lot of the things PBD found aren't fresh - they're already frozen or canned. That it's cheaper to grow and can beans in china and ship then over has nothing to do with growing seasons and everything to do with making money. :(

[progressivebydesign]

10. That's the idea... understanding that fresh veggies are always available.

And.. then there is no excuse for canned black beans from China. Canned food does not have the same challenges as fresh, and I know that things like Artichokes and beans are grown in America. I DO remember buying frozen broccoli all year from American growers. I truly believe it's just a combo of consumer expectations (after being sold fresh fruit off season by importing it), and corporate walmartian values (or lack of them). I'm prepared to savor the fruits and veggies available to me seasonally. I buy frozen blueberries year round, grown on a farm an hour from here.. they also offer peaches and berries.

[Sherman A1]

13. Okay, where do you draw the line?

I suspect that the computer (or other electronics) you are using to read and post on this site, is most likely not made in the USA, perhaps parts of you vehicle are not either (mine had parts from several countries). So does is a $1000.00 Chinese made computer okay, but a $1.69 can of imported black beans not? Trader Joe's (BTW a division of the German Company - Aldi) is something of a niche market, which I have found a bit too eclectic for my taste, but each to their own. Products are imported to supply a need or desire, If people will buy fresh imported strawberries in January then should they not be able to do so? Is it up to us to decide what others will find on the shelves when they shop? That seems a bit over the top to me, but whatever. If the product does not sell, it will not be carried for very long, or it's shelf space will be limited. I believe that consumers and customers can make their choices perfectly well in our supermarkets and stores without my help.

[Kolesar]

12. I am developing my "eat what is in season" ethic, but I think that frozen vegetables are ultimate

By "ultimate" I think that frozen vegetables are the thing to eat when the last broccoli or winter squash has been picked and et. Living in the Midwest, I am sure that the frozen corn did not travel too far to get to my grocer. I am a vegetarian, by the way.

I have not yet worked out the energy consumption of long term freezing, though.