Walmart joins FLOTUS health push
In an unusual endorsement, Michelle Obama appeared with Walmart executives at a community center on Thursday as the discount giant announced long-term plans to encourage healthy eating, including cutting prices of fresh fruits and vegetables and working with suppliers to reduce the content of sugar, fat and sodium in the products on its shelves.
The first lady – whose signature cause is reducing childhood obesity and promoting nutrition and exercise, particularly among low-income families – praised Wal-Mart as a retail giant with “the potential to transform the marketplace and let Americans put healthier foods on their table.”
Their plans “show us that, yes, we can improve how we make and sell food in this country,” the first lady said. “It’s a huge victory for folks all across this country. It’s a victory for parents. It’s a victory for families. But most of all, it’s a victory for our children.”
As part of the program, Walmart plans to overhaul thousands of packaged food items by 2015 to reduce salt and sugar content as well as eliminate unhealthy ingredients such as trans-fats. In addition, the chain would help create a seal to be placed on packages which would help consumers identify healthy products.
The initiative dovetails with Walmart’s plans to open more stores in urban neighborhoods, including the Washington metropolitan area. District officials had resisted allowing Walmart to open stores in the city because activists opposed its anti-union practices.
Bill Simon, the CEO of Walmart US, said that his corporation has “the tools at our disposal” to make the health-promoting changes in its discount stores. “All we need is the motivation, the opportunity and the willpower to do what needs to be done.”
“No family should have to choose between food that is healthier for them and food they can afford,” Simon added later in a statement posted on Walmart’s website. “With more than 140 million customers each week, Walmart is uniquely positioned to make a difference by making food healthier and more affordable to everyone.”
Obama said when 140 million Walmart shoppers have access to better food, “then day by day and meal by meal, all these small changes can start to make a big difference for our children’s health.” The first lady, who launched her obesity initiative two years ago, acknowledged Thursday that “we’re really gaining some momentum on this issue, we’re really starting to see things move.”
Dozens of organizations have collaborated with the first lady’s exercise and healthy-eating initiatives, including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and even the Disney corporation.
“We are seeing a fundamental shift in our national conversation about how we make and sell food,” Obama said. “That’s something that wasn’t happening just a year ago.”
