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Across the Fence:  Something disturbing at WalMart  |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 05:15:18 AM
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I really, really do my best NEVER to go to Wal-Mart. I nearly always walk out disturbed. But last night I desperately needed to try to find some plums because my mom wants me to make my yummy plum galette for Thanksgiving. So after searching my two local grocery stores, I despairingly trudge through the freezing rain into the local SuperChina-Land (my name for WalMart),and found something disturbing in the meat section.
Wal-Mart buys its fish from China! Tilapia, farm-raised in CHINA. Both the packaged for the fridge section and in the frozen section were raised in China (I had to go look). EWWWWWwww.
Now if you don't see anything wrong with this (and I am sure many of you do, this is a consumer-educated forum), let me explain.
Back in College, I had a Chinese roomie for 8 months. She was from Wuhan, outside Shanghai. Sounds neat, right? Opportunity to learn a little about a different country?
Well let's just say I DID get an education about China.
That was the most disgusting 8 months of my life. But we'll stay on the topic of fish.
She'd go to the Chinese market and buy a Longfish. It's about 18 inches long, with the body of an eel and the head of a gator garr. She'd get one of these about once a week, chop it with her cleaver into 4 inch chunks, then toss it, head, fins, scales and all, into a frying pan (MY iron skillet). It still has its eyes and teeth... I couldn't help thinking the thing was grinning up at her in the pan. Then she'd eat some of it, leave it out OVERNIGHT, eat more in the morning, again, LEAVE IT OUT, come back after classes in the late afternoon and eat some more of it. Seriously, how did she not get life-threateningly ill?
That is an example of the hygenic fish-handling the Chinese practice. Now do you REALLY want fish farm-raised and packaged in China?
It all just reinforces my conviction... I don't buy ANYTHING from Wal-Mart. They didn't have my plums anyway. |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 05:19:40 AM
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hmmmm...think I'll pass on breakfast now. 
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come. |
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lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 06:34:27 AM
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Ok, that is pretty gross BUT I'm sure that she thought some things that Americans do are gross and weird (even though some of them are  ). I don't buy much seafood at all but now I'm glad I don't . |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 07:33:08 AM
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I never buy meat at Wal-Mart. Not only is it poor quality but I don't like buying pre-packaged meat.
The only time that housework comes before sewing is in the dictionary!
http://rusticcottage.blogspot.com/ |
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Bridge
True Blue Farmgirl
814 Posts
Bridgette
Southern
Indiana
USA
814 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 08:11:22 AM
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Yuck, Everyday I seem to find more and more reasons that I wish to stay away from Walmart. |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 08:27:27 AM
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Where I work we have a girl in our International department that is Chinese. They have a saying, (loosely translated) "Everything with it's back to the sun (meaning all creatures that roam the earth) is edible". Think about that one for a bit. She has a great sense of humor and understands when we "Americans" get a bit grossed out by some things she considers eating. I guess it is all part of the learning process about getting along and understanding other cultures. But you are right about the fish thing, day in and day out without putting in the fridge, yuck!
Anne
"Second star to the right, straight on till morning" Peter Pan
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connio
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
connie
springtown
texas
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 08:45:33 AM
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Hey Farm Girls!!!
I had a dear friend from Taiwan (her grandfather was a Chinese general who escaped from Communism)when I was in grad school at UT Austin, and she was nothing like this. She is now working as a major film critic.
She was very clean, was a wonderful cook, and most gracious hostess. She did serve fish with the head still on it which I did not like particularly, but I realized that this was a cultural difference and nothing more. I don't think that it is very kind or reasonable to judge all of the Chinese based on the habits of 1 woman.
Connie
cozycottage |
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quilt8305
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Mary
Spokane
WA
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 08:50:45 AM
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Greyghost, What is really disappointing about the fish being raised in China and sold at Walmart is not how your roommate ate her fish, but the fact that talapia are farm raised right here in the Northwest. Your roommate had peculiar ideas about refrigeration (maybe no one ever taught her to cook!) I wish Walmart did buy more things made in the USA.
Mary
The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. Wm. James |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 08:52:59 AM
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Good point Connie -
In living with this roomie though, I met a lot of her friends, from different parts of China. I also ate with them... one group had a layer of newspaper about 3 inches thick on the kitchen floor. The reason? With all the oil cooking, it would get slippery, so they just kept putting down a new layer of newspaper every week. On top of the old.
Another couple cooked shrimp one week. They didn't rinse them or anything, lots of cruncy gritty stuff in those shrimp! And let's not talk about how long it had been since the table was last wiped off...
Another friend of hers was over and the topic turned to animals, and dogs. She said "white dog taste better than black dog."
Have another point: where did this avian flu come from? Both times? Hmmmm....
Now to be fair, I have had a Cambodian friend who was clean. And I had another Chinese friend who came from a good family, she was very clean and her husband a doctor. But by and large, the majority of Chinese live in horrible living conditions. I took a course about China while in College, the prof loved China and had been there several times. She could and would tell you of the difference between HongKong and other parts of the country, where you might be able to eat, and where not. |
Edited by - greyghost on Nov 22 2005 08:55:25 AM |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 10:50:59 AM
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It's bad enough that most of the goods at W are made in China when we sure need the jobs here. Why are they importing their food to the US? Aren't millions of Chinese starving - along with their friends, the North Koreans? That should keep the food there and feed their own.
Remember when Walmart tags said "Made in America"????
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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Carol
Moderator/MaryJane's Design Diva
452 Posts
Carol
Moscow
Idaho
USA
452 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 11:02:32 AM
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Hi girls.
I had a friend who went to Indonesia last year and wrote some wonderful letters home about the experience. But one thing he talked about was that people living on stilt houses over the water tended to have shrimp beds under their houses where they "farm-raised" shrimp in waters that had open sewage. So I started looking at shrimp labels in the grocery, and I got an eye-opener -- nearly every label says the shrimp are "farm-raised" in China, Taiwan, and Indonesia! And this isn't Wal-Mart, but mainstream groceries. Just another reminder to me to find out where my food comes from (MJ calls it "putting a face to food") and to try to buy local as much as I can.
We've just heard this past week about an interesting trend at Wal-Mart. They're about to jump on the organics wagon! They're working to provide a line of organic cotton products, and have set up contracts with organic suppliers that use fair trade standards.
Also, they released this news last month:
"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will invest $25 million to establish a private-equity fund targeted at women- and minority-owned businesses. The fund will be managed by Dallas-based Aldus Equity to invest in female- and minority-owned businesses seeking capital for acquisitions, joint ventures and other growth initiatives. Investment candidates must either operate companies or be in the process of acquiring companies that are able to distribute products or services to retailers."
These might be tactics to try to clean up their image, but since they're not about to go away, wouldn't it be great if they started to use their vast resources in a more aware, socially responsible way? If we support these kinds of practices with Wal-Mart, it just might change how they work with suppliers around the world. We found it interesting that in our collection of magazines from the first half of the 1900s, they talk about the "evil corporate empires" of Sears and Montgomery Wards. Seems like each generation has its bones to pick with corporate giants, but we can do our best to make them provide us with socially aware products. And if we do our best to buy responsibly, we just might change the world, one consumer at a time!
Here are two quotes that are going to go on my refrigerator during the holidays!!
"There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."
-G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
"I like to go to Marshall Field’s in Chicago just to see how many things there are in the world that I do not want."
-Mother Mary Madeleva CSC (1959)
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MicroEcoFarmer
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Barbara
Anacortes
Washington
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 11:11:01 AM
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I think the best we can do is use Walmart either never, rarely, or for the occasional emergency, while at the same time helping to support and build a larger and stronger positive food infrastructure locally, getting food from our local farms as much as possible... which everyone here already knows. Then, spicing our local and regional supply and supporting other countries with fair trade products from them, products we can't grow in our location
I was very concerned when seeing a large bottle of saffron selling for around $5. The land and tedious labor that go into making that bottle of saffron, which calls for harvesting bits of pollen off certain plants, deserves more than poverty wages.
Barbara
Micro Eco-Farming:
Prospering from Backyard to Small Acreage in Partnership with the Earth
www.MicroEcoFarming.com |
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Kate
MaryJane's Farmgirl
135 Posts
Kate
Moscow
ID
USA
135 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 1:09:17 PM
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I think that Wal-Mart gives everyone a different impression. For some it's the environment of the store others it's the food or even the parking that they can't stand. I know that there will always be things about Wal-Mart that causes me to think twice but I think it's important to remember that they aren't alone. Wal-Mart is just one of many stores with the same practices. Although I agree with all of the statements made about Wal-Mart I also have a different view as well. Both of my Grandmas work at Wal-Mart and have for years. They work hard enjoying the interaction with people. They are proud of their work and their soon retirement. I feel that no matter what I think about Wal-Mart I will always remember who works there, it's our community and it's our Grandparents
Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.....unless they are spelling mistakes. |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Nov 22 2005 : 2:48:56 PM
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Kate, Did you know that W"" recently launched an initiative to get rid of older, more mature workers? They can't stand the idea that anyone would stick around and actually gain tenure so that they can get benefits. This is outlined in more than one of their memos which are public.
One thing they are doing is to instruct their managers to make older and overweight workers do a lot of very physically taxing work like collecting carts (very heavy, since they are expected to collect tens of them at one time). They will also be given the task of helping to unload trucks. "W"wants them off the payroll and out of their health plan but they don't want to fire them because that would affect their unemployment insurance.
When we were young, there were moments of such perfectly crystallized happiness that we stood stock still and silently promised ourselves that we would remember them always. And we did. --Holly J. Burkhalter , "Four Midwestern Sisters' Christmas Book"
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Across the Fence: Something disturbing at WalMart |
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Something disturbing at WalMart
