Organic foods, while sometimes overrated, are an important and healthy alternative to a steady diet of preservatives and high-fat foods. In a market where healthy things are relatively expensive - and horrible frozen gunk is relatively cheap - finding a meal that contains, for instance, more than one color can be difficult. Health food stores are few and far between, and grocery stores carry a limited, overpriced stock of organic foods.
But now it seems we could see a surge in organics from an unexpected source: Wal-Mart.
According to a Sunday article by The Associated Press, the grocery supergiant is making a move into organic products. Among the new products to hit Wal-Mart's shelves this year are organic-cotton baby clothes and ocean fish caught through environment-friendly methods - which brings up the question of how, precisely, suppliers were catching them beforehand.
Wal-Mart is making no excuses for its move into the organics market: The reputation of the chain is a mess, and it's looking for any way to repair it.
More so than its competitors, Wal-Mart has emerged in recent years as the most unscrupulous of the giant megachains. Everything from poor treatment of workers to substandard business practices have stained the shaky facade of the low-price king, and this upcoming turn toward organics reflects its need to bolster that failing reputation.
Moreover, Wal-Mart is hoping to attract wealthier customers who might otherwise turn up their noses at the disreputable superstore.
"Like many big companies, they have figured out it is just good marketing and good reputation building to be in favor of things that Americans are increasingly interested in," Alice Peterson, president of consultant firm Syrus Global, said. And that might be the most fantastically obvious phrase to leave the lips of a non-Bush in the last 10 years.
Indeed, Wal-Mart is desperately seeking fame, fortune and attention - or at least more of all the above.
But what does this mean for organic foods in general?
We already know the people in charge of Wal-Mart are unscrupulous and merciless seekers of the dollar. With this move toward organics, should we expect Wal-Mart to cut corners? Will the organic foods it puts out on the shelves be substandard, cut-rate products with the word "organic" slapped across them? Whose standards for "organic" will Wal-Mart be adhering to - or will it make its own standards - and will they be significantly different than other chains' standards?
This also brings up the question of what will happen to the health food stores currently offering organic products. If Wal-Mart gets heavy into the health food market, odds are it will muscle small, single-owner shops right out of business. This has happened before with a number of shops, and arguments still rage over whether the wide availability and low price of numerous products is better than quality products made and sold by individual people.
Regardless, the invasion of the organic foods market by corporate giants will likely mean a decline in the quality of organic foods available.
Is this an acceptable price to pay for more widespread availability? We'll see.
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