Because mama never taught you the difference between an apple and a candy bar.
Walmart is adopting a nanny state mentality in its stores. They do this because “…we feel like our customers need help right now”.
In an effort to care for the consumer with an obviously depleted sense of personal responsibility, Walmart will label foods they believe to be healthy with bright green and white ‘Great for You’ labels.
To earn Walmart’s stamp of approval, foods must meet specific threshholds. Fresh fruits and vegetables qualify, as do lean cuts of meat. Brown rice makes the cut, while white rice does not. Skim and 1 percent milk qualify, while 2 percent and whole milk do not.
“There are no candy bars,” said Andrea Thomas, the company’s senior vice president of sustainability.
The company spoke with food and nutrition experts, health organizations, government entities and others to decide on its criteria.
“We had a nice, long debate about eggs,” said Thomas.
While some people felt that eggs should not be on the list because of the cholesterol they contain, she said, others argued that they are a good, low-cost source of protein. After hearing the various reasons, Walmart decided that eggs made the cut.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet introduced a standardized seal to show foods that meet certain health criteria.
“At the point in time that there is a standardized label that comes out from the FDA then we’ll be happy to make a switch,” said Thomas. “At this point we feel like our customers need help right now; we don’t know how long that’s going to take.”
At first, Walmart’s green and white “Great For You” icon will appear on signs for fresh fruits and vegetables and then pop up on packages of about 20 percent to 25 percent of the company’s Great Value brand food and on some of its Marketside items. Brand-name foods may also qualify for the seal.
Walmart’s efforts also include lowering the amount of sodium and added sugars in some of its food. The company said it cut 15 percent of the sodium in Great Value ketchup, an average of 15 percent of the sodium in Great Value canned vegetables such as corn, green beans and carrots, and more than 70 percent of the sodium in fresh steaks, roasts and certain other cuts of beef.
First lady Michelle Obama, who was with Walmart when it unveiled its plans in January 2011, said that the new seal gives parents information they need to make healthy choices, which is “a key piece of solving childhood obesity.”
Oh, so personal responsibility will suddenly grow in people, maybe like the Grinch’s heart? And all the little fat kids will be saved! Hallelujah!
This reminds me of the 17 year old girl named Stacey who ate only McNuggets for 15 years… since the age of TWO. And the ‘occasional portion of chips’, of course. And subsequently collapsed, because as we all know, including Stacey’s mom, man cannot live on McNuggets alone.
Stacey now realizes the error of her ways and is working to change her diet. But where was mom when her TWO year old started turning down everything except McNuggets? Stacey’s 39 year old mother, Evonne, was ‘exasperated’ because the other two kids ate right, dammit. She thinks her daughter should see a specialist.
Now let me tell you what my mother did… If I didn’t want to eat what was put on my plate, be it broccoli or beans, I sat at the table until I came to my senses. If I hadn’t straightened up by bedtime, guess what I got for breakfast? If I had openly defied all logic and insisted on a McNugget diet… she would have beat me until we came to an understanding.
God bless that woman. I hope she’s having tea and cake with Jesus right now.
Header image is the cleanest thing I could find at People of Walmart.
7. February 2012 at 1:17 pm
mind boggling
and that stacey chick… I want to bash her mother’s head in.
I also sat at the table until I cleared my plate. Period. Temper tantrum be damned. Because my parents played the role of parents.
A friend has a child who will not eat anything but cheese pizza, potato chips, and very rarely, popcorn shrimp. He’s 18 now. Every time I was at a food-consuming event with this child, I wanted to punch him and his mother. (His step-dad feels the same, but was never given permission to be a parental figure)
7. February 2012 at 3:39 pm
You are not alone! Every time I hear something like this, I want to punch someone! Preferably the offending idiot, but a hippie will do in a pinch.
Thank God my parents were parents instead of ‘friends’.
7. February 2012 at 10:50 pm
Let’s not even talk about the time I told my Momma that we should “send this stuff to the starving children of Asia” when I didn’t want to eat it. The trauma remains.
8. February 2012 at 6:06 am
Oh, my gosh. I heard about those little starving bastards every time I balked at my veggies! They wished they could have my greens and okra! Well, I was ready to ship ‘em the whole lot!
8. February 2012 at 6:53 am
If we refused what was served, we didn’t eat. Stacey’s parent should get a boot up the ass. As for Walmart, the typical Walmart shopper isn’t interested in healthy food. The typical Walmart shopper buys Twinkies and Coke.
8. February 2012 at 7:14 am
I fixed it for you.
Wonder if Stacey’s mom would have been charged with child abuse here in the states?
Twinkies and coke?
8. February 2012 at 7:28 am
I cook one meal. I always have. If I realize that the family doesn’t like something in particular, I don’t make it again, but everyone has to try it and there is only one meal served.
My kids will eat just about anything now. Ringo has a texture issue with ground beef so I try not to use that much, but he will deal. Bones hates certain cheeses, so I leave it off his. But everyone has their own eating idiosyncracies in general. Overall… they will eat anything and I know it’s because from Day 1, they ate what we ate.
8. February 2012 at 7:32 am
I eventually ate everything except okra and learned to appreciate it, thanks to my mom. Still won’t eat it.
My brother was a bit different, claiming he could taste the difference between certain brands of things like ketchup, grape juice, etc… so mom bought the brands he liked.
8. February 2012 at 10:29 am
Ms. Pam…
What’s wrong with your taste buds? Breaded, deep fried Okra is AWESOME!
davek
8. February 2012 at 10:34 am
It’s the one thing I cannot bring myself to eat… something about the slimy… ugh.
8. February 2012 at 7:55 am
okra
I’m with Bou on the one meal thing. These days I don’t cook at all, but that is another issue. Let’s just say the boy has learned to cook for himself.
Walmart?….. um, the two things I WILL NOT buy at Walmart? Meat and produce. Their meat and produce suck. I buy those somewhere that doesn’t sell over-ripe nasty produce or over greasy fatty meat that I can at least hope wasn’t imported from Mexico. Don’t trust Mexico’s food processing procedures.
8. February 2012 at 8:04 am
My mom only did one meal. It wasn’t until I was grown that I learned that people actually make several meals for their different family members… odd, that. And wasteful.
I don’t go to Walmart. Maybe on Christmas day, when I’ve forgotten a certain spice… otherwise, fuggedaboutit.
8. February 2012 at 8:21 am
I have such a huge problem with this because likely something that is low in calories high in FAKE CRAP and made in a factory will get the label simply because of it’s calorie content.
To even consider omitting eggs when they are one of the most perfect foods out there is absurd. They have more protein per calorie than anything!
And let’s be real, people know what to eat and what not to eat, they should raise prices on the crap and lower them on the fresh foods. THAT would go a long way. Hit them in the pocketbook, then they may have a fighting chance at change.
8. February 2012 at 8:27 am
Great idea! Instead of labeling things, just reduce the price of healthy stuff!
9. February 2012 at 12:09 am
I do most of the grocery shopping at WalMart. The other store is small and expensive. The nearest other supermarket is around thirty miles each way. I do buy most of our meat at the supermarket 30 miles away, a Krogers.
That’s the downside of living here in Resume Speed, Texas. Well, that and they have to deliver daylight by FedEx we’re so far out.
And I buy Linda Lou’s soda but I do not buy Twinkies. I did make fudge brownies today with a whole package of peanut butter chips mixed in the batter.
As to one meal, well, yeah. And if I dared say “I don’t like it” the automatic answer was “you’ll LEARN to like it.” And I did. Of course my Momma had a backhand quicker’n a striking snake.
9. February 2012 at 7:18 am
Well, that’s a different story altogether. You’re sort of forced into Wally World.
Mike drinks coke and I have a sip of root beer once in a while. It was the twinkies I was reacting to, really.
ALL mamas had a quick backhand and a belt at the ready back then; it’s why we grew up so well. I still remember “go cut me a switch” with fondness.
9. February 2012 at 10:08 am
Go to your local Walmart Supercenter around the first of the month when the food stamps hit and look in the carts.
9. February 2012 at 10:32 am
That’s what Tanya told me; you can hardly get into one the first few days of the month in Ft. Myers… and what they buy is unreal…