Walmart vs. Brooklyn: Joe Holtz Votes for Shop Rite

Wow, I can't believe I actually just watched the live webcast of the City Council Walmart hearing concerning whehter or not they should be allowed to come to  and it was RIVETING. I mean it. It was some really entertaining reality TV. Way better than Erica's beloved Real Housewives.

There was the rabid republican 9/11 union construction worker who played both the 9/11 *and* the Muslim cards in his efforts to sing the praises of Walmart. There were the dudes from the hood who had gone on a Walmart-paid fact-finding mission in Arkansas, and came home saying Walmart is promising to hire all the ex-cons in Brownsville AND send them all to college. And if they don't, TROUBLE, big trouble, "25 to life" kind of trouble. You feelin' me? There was the awesome husband/wife team of city councilman and assembly woman who both spoke eloquently,smartly and specifically against Walmart. And also they called each other "sweetheart" and "love of my life" and shit. 

Here's the dance/re-mix version of all the shit everyone was saying at that hearing:

Economic development suckers, poverty makers, fatteners, greedy, flag wrapped mirage, job dangling fakers, environmentally challenged truckers, lying scoundrels, small business killers , subsidy suckers, crappy low-wage employers, anti living wage and benefit fuck faces, property tax evaders, misogynistic predatory local economy molesters...

So, let me get this straight, Walmart?: you can work forty hours a week and still not to be able to afford to support yourself or your family. You won't get benefits. You'll get shitty food and put all kinds of better-paying local businesses out of business with your predatory practices. You'll increase pollution and traffic congestion exponentially. Jobs gained are a complete wash in every recent study. 

And, according to the development deal that's been approved, the hood has been promised thousands of new jobs no matter WHO takes over the site. And that promise had been for smaller businesses, locally owned and staffed, NOT some big crappy Walmonster, as one guy testified.

So, what about those low prices? At what cost? 

City shoppers could slash their grocery bills by 33 percent if retail giant Walmart is permitted to open stores in the Big Apple, a (NY) Post analysis has found.

The Key Food bill for 24 items came to $103.36. The Walmart bill for the same items was $69.43 -- a savings of $33.83.

Well, if the NY Post says it, it MUST be true.... Okay, so we all can agree that Key (as we in the now call it) is the most colossally price-gaugey supermarket chain going...well not including Union Market and Whole Foods. But, what about Trader Joe's, Fairway, the Food Coop, Costco, or latecomer Shop-Rite? 

Is somebody over at the NY Post on the board of the NYC Walmart campaign? 

So, then the NY Observer responded to the NY Post by reminding us of THEIR analysis of the Food Coop vs. Whole Foods (btw, Joe Holtz says that their hummus price was wrong-o; should have been much less).

City shoppers could slash their grocery bills by 30 percent if ragtag retail giant the Park Slope Food Co-op is permitted to open more stores in the Big Apple, an Observer analysis has found.

Whole Foods: $68.48
Co-op: $47.79

That adds up to an impressive one-third off your groceries.

So, assuming Whole Foods is comparable to Key Food, that would mean that the Food Coop is comparable to Walmart...except that get REAL organic, safe and edible food at the Coop.

 I had myself a little pow wow with Joe Holtz, my BFF at the PSFC and its General Manager, and he says: No, he won't start a Food Coop outpost in East New York, the neighborhood Walmart is scoping out, though he'll be happy to help any local groups who want to do so with all the logistical advice and resources the Food Coop has to offer. 

if forced to choose between all of the contenders, Joe would go with latecomer contender Shop Rite over Walmart in the battle of the supermarkets. Or Costco over Shop Rite. And, of course, any organically-grown food Coop or market above all of them. He said:

I think Shop Rite and Costco's employees are unionized and get better wages. Their wages are, on average, $19/hr as opposed to $12/hour at Walmart. 90% get health insurance as opposed to 40% at Walmart. So yes, I'd rather see a Shop Rite than Walmart; they're a more responsible organization. Foodwise, suppliers of Walmart are driving a truck through the organic rules.  

By the way, during said "interview," we were interrupted (very politely) on no fewer than four occasions to discuss blueberries, brussel sprouts, something else and whether or not the new Coop hot dog purveyor was wholesome enough and/or came from the right kind of well-fed and humanely-treated piggies. 

So here's some more scoop about food coops from Holtz:

A food coop should be indigenous: grass-roots to a neighborhood. There are people in East New York who want better grocery choices, for sure. The diet, on average, isn't good enough. The options aren't good enough. The neighborhood has to support it or it will fail.

About keeping it locally-grown. Why not use Flatbush as an inspiration. And if the City Council wants to be Foodwise for real, why not start here! From the Brooklyn Ink:

Susan Siegel, the creator of the farmer’s market at Cortelyou, and later the executive director of the Flatbush Development Corporation said the changes to Cortelyou Road were absolutely necessary, because the area was experiencing ‘economic leakage.’ Nobody was investing or spending in the neighborhood. “We liked that it’s not Park Slope, but at the same time there was so much missing. We spent more money outside the neighborhood than in it,” Siegel said. “If I needed to cook something with broccoli or arugula I had to leave the neighborhood.”

Siegel says that the farmer’s market is at the core of the neighborhood. “The farmer’s market is like the town square,” Siegel said. “It was a way that all diverse neighbors could come together for the first time ever. It was a real community builder.”

The challenges Siegel faced involved getting people to come to the market, and proving to existing businesses that the market wasn’t going to take away their business: something that was easily achieved since the market provided goods that resident had to leave Flatbush to find. 

According to their website, I uncovered some of the top-selling items at Walmart (pictured below). And keep in mind that East New York has the city's highest incidence of diabetes and obesity, so great prices on spray cheese isn't a winner for them, healthwise. The NIH even funded a grant to get them healthier local food options a few years ago.

For comparison, I'm offering up some coop prices to chew on. I don't have it in me to go to Walmart Secaucus or anywhere else for that matter so peeps, show me your Costco -Fairway -TJ -Dags -ShopRite receipts and we'll do our own in-house "comparative analysis." I tried to come up with crap you might actually be able to get at Walmart but let's face it, on the quality front, there IS no comparison.

Amy's French Baguette: $1.80

Arnold's Country White Bread: 3.99

Bagel: $.58/ea

Tropicana big OJ: $3.36

Newman's Own Lemonade (59 oz): $2.80

San Pellegrino Limonata (6 pack): $4.36

Honest Kids Juice Thingy: $.45/ea

Pilsner Urquel (6 pack): $7.44

Farmland Milk (1/2 G): $2.36

Natural by Nature Milk (1/2 G): $3.93

Cheddar Cheese: $4.12/lb

Kalamata Olives: $5/74/lb

Colavita Olive Oil (34 oz): $10.65

Apples: .99/lb

Sunkist Oranges: $.32/ea

Organic Romaine Hearts: $2.93

Organic Vine Tomatoes: $3.42/lb

Organic Celery: $2.17

Baby Carrots: $1.02/bag

Lemons: $.22/ea

Onions: $.63/lb

Smucker's Natural Peanut Butte (lb)r: $2.46

Organic Coffee Beans: $7/lb

Eggo Waffles: $2.69

Amy's Frozen Pizza: $4.45

Ben & Jerry's 16 oz: $3.78

Haagen-Dahz (1 qt): $5.65

Cascade (45 oz): $3.57

Marcal Recycled TP: $.84/ea

Organic Potato Chips: $2.27

Organic Tortilla Chips (big bag): $2.36

Fruit Leather: $.35/ea

Dozen Cage-Free Eggs: $2.26

Wild Salmon Filets: $8.80/lb

Organic Hamburger: $5.92/lb

Murray's Skinless/Boneless Chicken Breasts: $4.99/lb

Flour (2 lb bag): $1.65 

Fancy Granola: $3.59/lb

Cheerios (14 oz): $4.33

Milano Cookies: $3.16

Goldfish: $1.40

Sabra Hummus (17 oz): $3.87

Land 'o Lakes Whipped Butter (8 oz): $2.36 

Okay, I'm feeling VERY self righteous now. What the hell do you ppl think??

Comments

[Thomas C.]

I would never shop at Wal-Mart, because I don't wanna have to say hello to a diabled person or a senior citizen at the front door.