I love my veggies-and the fresher the better! That’s one of the many reasons I love growing a vegetable garden–it’s just the most local you can possibly get!
I do still purchase a lot of vegetables at the store, and I was thrilled to see this sign on my last visit to Walmart:
I know, when you think Walmart you don’t think “Local Farmers”~but you should! Did you know that over 10% of the produce that Walmart purchases is now local? According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal
Wal-Mart, the largest grocer in the U.S., with more than $120 billion a year in food sales, encourages its managers to buy produce grown within 450 miles of its distribution centers, even if local peaches, for example, cost more than those produced across the country in California.
Not only that,but Walmart has been actively buying local produce since 2008. They really do have a commitment to locally grown produce!
Yeah-I didn’t know that either until I became one of the Walmart Moms! The problem has been that no one KNEW that there was local produce. I mean come on-I live in NY, which is basically “apple central”–and it has always been so hard to tell which apples came from local NY orchards, and which were being shipped in from other places. There was no signage or branding to help you out.
This has been an issue that the other bloggers and I have brought up every single time we’ve been to Bentonville Arkansas (home of Walmart!). So it is just so exciting to see the new standardized signs!
Let’s take a bit of a closer look:
Walmart has already started using the new labeling and symbols. Here in NY the growing season has just begun, so the only thing local being sold in the stores right now are apples. But I was quickly able to find the apple bins that had the “Locally Grown” sign:
Not only that, but in the bagged apples it was even more obvious:
Isn’t that great? It is going to make it so much easier for me to support my local farmers when I’m at the store. Of course I will still continue to grow my own garden as well and hit up my local farmers market.
One of the things I find really exciting about the locally grown program is that it not only gives me the freshest vegetables and reduces food miles. . . but it helps local farmers stay in business doing what they love:
So next time you are at Walmart take a look in the produce section and see if your store is using the new locally grown signs yet!
****This is a sponsored post****
Disclosure: This is a sponsored review I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have noticed some locally grown signs which is great However, with products like peaches which carry heavy pesticide residue I am hesitant to purchase without knowledge of whether something is pesticide free or even what it has been sprayed with. While Walmart has gotten a little better about carrying organics, Kroger still has them beat by alot.
Walmart has absolutely no hormone free beef products. Their dairy is getting better but you still have to shop the specialty cheese section (and buy imported) to get hormone free cheese(and my particular store has zip in terms of the two types of cheeses I use most cheddar, kroger carries the Tillamook, and monterey jack, I either have to make it to organic store or take a trip to fresh market 45 minutes away. They now have organic veggies from the dirty dozen plus a few but the dirty dozen in fruit is sorely lacking. They have organic lemons and apples bagged(I can purchase an exact amount at Kroger since they carry them singularly). No peaches or strawberries(both can be found at my Kroger).
I hope eventually to be able to shop at my local Walmart but until they do better most of my grocery shopping is going to have to be where I can get products that don’t have additives that my family does not need and Walmart will just have to be for fillers or emergency trips.
Great feedback-I will make sure your comments get passed on to the folks at Walmart. I would like to say that just from my experience with the other 22 Walmart Moms in the blogger program that the amount of organics etc available in each store varies widely. . . I’d be interested in hearing if there are hormone free options available myself.