The Walmartization of sustainability

Michelle Obama recently endorsed  a five-year plan by Walmart  to make thousands of its packaged foods lower in unhealthy salts, fats and sugars, and to drop prices on fruits and vegetables  Read the New York Times article about the announcement here.  On the face of it, Walmart's effort meshes nicely with Mrs. Obama's focus on getting kids to eat healthier food...and what better place to start than the nation's largest grocery chain.  However, distrust of Walmart and its motivations run deep for many. Check out some of the skepticism from the blogosphere here.  Indeed, my wife pointed out the seeming contradiction between Walmart's desire to reduce the cost of fruits and vegetables with another news story that appeared that week:  this one about an agreement between farm workers, local tomato growers and several big-name buyers, including the fast-food giants McDonald’s and Burger King, that will pay the pickers roughly a penny more for every pound of fruit they harvest.  Read it here.  The murmurings around this particular announcement reflect a broader debate about approaches to improving the sustainability and lessening the impact of industry and agriculture.  One broad approach adopted by organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, is to actively engage large corporations in helping them improve their sustainability metrics.  Check out their program in "sustainable markets" here. One big rationale for this approach is that getting Walmart or BP to make even modest  changes in their practices can have a really big overall impact on things.  Other notable folks like ecologist Jared Diamond support this approach as well.  Check out his op-ed piece in the New York Times here.  Others see this as nothing more than greenwashing; seem more commentary from the blogosphere here.