Walmart-at-the-Crossroads-FINAL-06.04.15

personnel and members of both companies sit on each other’s boards and committees.
63
This close
relationship between Monterey Mushrooms and Giorgio Foods suggests that there is an unfair
marketplace for small and mid-size mushroom farms. It is more challenging for these smaller farms to
succeed in the market when big corporations collude with one another. Working mainly with larger
companies, such as Monterey Mushrooms and Giorgio Foods, demonstrates that Walmart is doing little
in the mushroom industry to work toward its sustainability goal of supporting local economies and
helping small and medium farmers.
A particular case study in Pennsylvania further demonstrates the negative effect Walmart
suppliers have on smaller, independent farmers. Pennsylvania is one of the leaders of mushroom
production in the nation, and Berks County, Pennsylvania can specifically be considered a “mushroom
hot spot.” In the past, Berks County was home to many independent mushroom farmers. In the 1990s,
however, processed mushrooms from nations in the Global South gained in popularity due to their low
prices, thereby undercutting Berks County’s independent farmers who could no longer afford to sell
their fresh mushrooms at competitive prices. Congruently, the US demand for fresh mushrooms
increased, which gave large, organized corporations like Giorgio Foods a competitive edge. Given the
combination of increasing global competition and consolidation of the two biggest mushroom
producers, small U.S. farmers have struggled to stay afloat. These challenges have led to 90% of Berks
County’s output now being produced by Giorgio Foods.
64
This situation in the mushroom industry
reflects larger trends in agriculture where it has become standard practice for larger companies to
contract out production to a large number of smaller farms around the country. Switching from
controlling production to being basically a contract worker can be detrimental to farmers and
negatively impact the labor and environmental standards of farms.
The stronghold of Monterey Mushrooms and Giorgio Foods on the mushroom industry and the
resulting detriment to the economic welfare of independent farmers is not in line with Walmart’s 2010
Global Sustainable Agriculture Goals. Walmart’s continued preference for Monterey Mushrooms and
Giorgio Foods as their primary mushroom suppliers demonstrates that the company is not upholding
their pledge.
Page !15