Green | July 14, 2009 | 11 comments

The Corporate Co-Opt of Local

source: http://www.newrules.org/retail/article/corporate-coopt-local

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queenofit
"What Does Local Really Mean?"

That was the headline on the recent Charlottesville News and Arts Weekly. I grabbed the paper and rushed home to read. This article that I have linked is written by Stacy Mitchell a senior researcher with the New Rules Project and author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses (Beacon, 2006).

(from article)
"HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself "The world's local bank." Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched an ad campaign under the tagline "Local flavor since 1956." The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring millions of dollars into television ads urging people to "Shop Local"—at their nearest mall. Even Wal-Mart is getting in on the act, hanging bright green banners over its produce aisles that simply say, "Local."


Wal-Mart Corporation

One way corporations can be "local" is to stock a token amount of locally grown produce, as Wal-Mart has done in some of its supercenters.

Some of the world's biggest corporations are brashly laying claim to the word.
(more at link)

I hope you will take the time to read her article, it is an eye opener for sure. How dare the corporate world try to horn in on our meager effort to maintain "local" control of our consumer goods and services.

Local isn't even going to be local pretty soon.

Send your examples of local-washing to her at smitchell@ilsr.org.
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11 comments // The Corporate Co-Opt of Local

  • queenofit
  • KCHARLES
    • 0
      KCHARLES  

    • Organize food coops, retail coops and manufacturing coops. Is it possible that some people are finally getting to the point they are aware they are slaves.

    • 2 years ago
  • queenofit
  • chardly
    • 0
      chardly  

    • very good heads up...this is another symptom of the greater central problem: corruption? Well...another symptom actually; until we value the vote we cast and the dollar we spend as much as we value the trinkets we buy this will continue. The initial cure? More than two political parties. That's a duopoly....after covering news in dc & the hill for over 25 years it's clear that 2 parties just enrich their duopoly under the guise of democracy. Think of it like this:

      Are there just 2 kinds of americans? Nope...there are about 10-20. With political parties representing all the real sub-sets of our country, coalitions band together on the contriversial and debatable, and most issues towards a better society would need no such coalitions moving us in the right directions. Early next year I will be launching my project of the last 16 years The Global Party. Anyone interested in helping with our platform I invite to open a dialog with me.

    • 2 years ago
  • KCHARLES
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  
    • chardly:

      Even though I am not familiar with your political party, I can honestly say that I agree with your premise here. It is what I have been saying for a few years (once I finally woke up). Our future is never going fully repair, unless we take back our government from the corporations. We The People may not have the dollars that corporations do, but if we could realize our true strength lies in the numbers, we certainly have the manpower. So far what their money (corporations) has enabled them to do is weaken our numbers by using the tactic of divide and conquer. Anyway, thanks for your input here, sounds interesting.

    • 2 years ago
  • s0uthc0ast
    • 0
      s0uthc0ast  

    • This local/green crap is for the birds.
      You want local produce?
      Grow it!
      That is your guarantee.
      Walmart and Whole Foods are businesses, not philanthropies and people should not be so naive as to expect otherwise.
      That is not conspiracy or subterfuge, but reality.

    • 2 years ago
  • cynker
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • Well my first response to this was 'how dare these huge corporations horn in on our feeble attempt to sustain the local farmer and provide healthy, safe food for our families'.

      But of course this below the belt attempt from the corporate level is telling us that we are making progress, that local does matter and that we are getting their attention. Unfortunately, as with most of the corporate lingo, they are just grabbing words out of thin air and using them to make profit, not caring how they are prostituting the concept.

      Then one other thought arises, the corporation is using "local" to make their profits, and we the little consumer are using local to survive. Funny how those two worlds are colliding.

      We must not only buy local, but make certain that the "local" we are paying for is not wolf in sheeps clothing!

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • SeaJade
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