The "greening" of Wal-Mart

Gore to present his film during Wal-Mart visit

A few weeks ago came the rather surprising news that Wal-Mart would begin carrying organic products in their stores. Now Al Gore will carry the message of his global warming documentary to the gargantuan retailer's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Here's some excerpts from an article in today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by Lynda Edwards.

Former Vice President Al Gore will screen his global warming documentary at Wal-Mart’s headquarters Wednesday, one of several unexpected audiences finding common ground with the loser (only in the electoral college, missy!) of a divisive presidential race.

Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogelman said Gore will show his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, give a speech and answer audience questions. Gore spokesman Kalee Kreider said Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott invited Gore a month ago to speak at Wednesday’s quarterly gathering of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s environmental group. The Wal-Mart group was founded after an October speech Scott gave to workers. He promised Wal-Mart would invest at least $500 million annually to achieve three environmental goals: zero waste, 100 percent renewable energy and ecofriendly products.

Gore will face another surprising audience in early August when he discusses global warming with Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch in Pebble Beach, Calif. Murdoch spokesman Andrew Butcher said Murdoch invited Gore to show his film and discuss global warming with Murdoch and his executives.

None of this changes my opinion of Wal-Mart yet. I have not shopped there in years and have no plans to change. While I applaud anyone who sees value in offering organic products, the sheer size and clout of Wal-Mart creates some uncomfortable scenarios. Rather than supporting small independent (if there are any of those left who haven't been bought up*) organic suppliers, mega-corporations such as Kraft, Pepsi, General Mills and Kellogg are gearing up product lines to fill the organic niche at Wal-Mart. And there's nothing "green" about supporting them.

Wal-Mart is already the biggest seller of organic milk, but with 2,000 supercenters, it could soon be the nation's largest seller of organic products, surpassing Whole Foods.

* General Mills Inc. has acquired Cascadian Farms, French food giant Groupe Danone bought a stake in Stonyfield Farm, H.J. Heinz Co. has invested in Hain Celestial Group Inc., and Dean Foods purchased Horizon Organic.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart discount stores, supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM’S CLUB locations in the United States. The company has operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom.