Savannah West
November 9, 2014

Walmart Produce

My article is about Walmart going greener, the retailer is the United States’ largest grocery store, and food is its biggest business. One thing walmart is planning to do is watching how much water is used to grow crops and also buy more local produce. What’s become clearer and clearer is that we have a real challenge globally around feeding the world’s growing population in a way that doesn’t cut down every last tree and use every last drop of water,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, senior vice president for global sustainability at Walmart. The drought in California has been a prime example of how much water is required to produce the fruit and vegetables that consumers increasingly demand, and there is a growing “awareness about how food waste and animal husbandry generate pollution.” Walmart’s effort to enhance sustainability has four legs: reducing the overall cost of food, including its environmental footprint; increasing access to more nutritious food; making it easier for its customers to eat healthier foods; and improving food safety, with greater transparency about where food comes from and how it is produced. The company says it has been working with a variety of partners, including nonprofit groups, food manufacturers like General Mills and PepsiCo, and agricultural businesses like Monsanto and Cargill. Walmart and General Mills, for example, are sponsoring a challenge that will reward farmers who show the most progress in reducing emissions through better use of fertilizers. To reduce food waste, Walmart says it has begun developing more ways to use a “whole crop” in its private-label food production and to reduce spoilage.

Strom, Stephanie. "Walmart Aims to Go Greener on Food." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Oct. 2014. Web. 09 Nov.