The nation's largest retailer is going organic, and not everyone thinks it's a good thing. Wal-Mart is expanding its sales of organic products, from produce to cereal to macaroni and cheese, bringing along a series of name-brand companies along on the organic bandwagon. The company is aiming to sell organic foods - which it believes many of its customers want - at prices closer to non-organic foods than other retailers presently offer.

In a story in the New York Times, a Wal-Mart exec said offering organic foods was "like any other merchandise scheme" the company deploys, aimed at giving consumers what they want. The company has been careful not to tout organic as a smarter or better choice, simply one more option among many supermarket choices. The story mentioned Kellogg's Rice Krispies and Kraft mac and cheese as just two of the beloved American brands that will soon offer organic versions.

But while bringing pesticide- and antibiotic-free foods to the masses seems like a great step forward, not everyone is convinced. The Times story quoted Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association saying that he worried Wal-Mart's failure to embrace the background values of organics could upset the entire organic marketplace. "They're going to end up outsourcing from overseas and places like China, where you've got very dubious organic standards and labor conditions that are contrary to what any organic consumer would consider equitable," he told the paper. The Organic Consumers Association's motto is "campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability," which may not match up with Wal-Mart's track record on both employee benefits and product sourcing.

The move to organics, however, is just the latest announcement in Wal-Mart's move toward more sustainable practices. The company has pledged to use more renewable energy, decrease packaging of products sold in its stores, sell only sustainably caught fish, and other steps toward greening its business model.

Photo credit: Wal-Mart