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Walmart’s Pandemic Port Squeeze
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By DANA CRONIN • December 13, 2023
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In October 2021, the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports were slammed. Lines of ships waiting to unload cargo stretched 80 ships long and some container ships waited weeks before unloading their loot. The bottleneck stemmed from supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather, and labor shortages. About half a billion
dollars in food imports floated aboard.
With holiday feasts and Black Friday sales around the corner, Walmart’s leadership knew it needed to address supply chain upheaval, according to company statements to shareholders. There were three options: one was to simply pay a premium to skip the queue. Another was to go to a different, smaller port to unload, often at a higher cost.
Or, for a hefty sum, it could bypass the system entirely and hire its own ships. And that’s exactly what it did.
While independent retailers and mom-and-pop shops faced shortages and even empty shelves during the 2021 holiday season, Walmart’s sales grew more than 8 percent. And, despite its logistical challenges, the pandemic overall had already proved to be a boon for the retail giant. Long one of the biggest retail businesses in the world, with $572.8 in annual revenue, Walmart’s gross profits jumped 7.33 percent
by the end of 2021, hitting $138 billion.
That the company thrived in the face of the pandemic and the ensuing supply chain disruption, however, illustrates its enormous influence over world trade and global pricing for goods, and how that influence is squeezing other retailers, which further weakens the global supply chain, including for food. Read the full story.
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Global Leaders Bypass Real Agriculture Reform Again at COP28 Climate Summit
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By GREY MORAN • December 12, 2023
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The global food system, a major driver of the climate crisis, was given a prominent place on the stage at the 2023 United Nations Climate Conference, which is set to conclude Tuesday, with negotiations continuing into overtime. Known as COP28, the event brought over 90,000 registered delegates to Dubai as world leaders there have worked to shape the global response to the escalating climate crisis.
On the first day of the gathering, delegates from 152 countries signed a global declaration for food systems transformation. And for the first time in its history, the conference devoted an entire day to food, agriculture, and water.
In opening remarks that day, Susan Gardner, director of the U.N.’s ecosystems division, highlighted the dangerous cycle of unsustainable agriculture. “Let’s be clear: we know our current food systems are broken,” she said. “Agriculture alone is responsible for 60 percent of biodiversity loss. It generates about a third of greenhouse gas emissions globally.”
However, food and agriculture won’t likely get much airtime in the much-debated Global Stocktake, the key document resulting from the conference’s negotiations. The stocktake represents an important juncture in international climate negotiations, and has been described by the U.N. as “taking an inventory” of global climate progress. And despite much discussion of food systems, the draft agreement only makes a passing reference to food. Read the full story.
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Tractor Rollovers Kill Dozens on Farms Each Year—and a Prevention Program Is at Risk
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By MARY-ROSE ABRAHAM • December 11, 2023
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The tractor, the most ubiquitous tool on America’s farms, is also the most dangerous. Tractor accidents can result in severe injuries and are also the leading cause of death for farmers, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
A safety device called the rollover protective structure (ROPS) has been known for decades to prevent these deaths. The structure includes a roll bar above the seat, supported by two or four posts, or a crush-proof cab. When used with seatbelts, ROPS are 99 percent effective in preventing injury and death.
In 1985, tractor manufacturers adopted a voluntary standard to include ROPS and seatbelts on all new tractors over 20 horsepower. Older tractors can be upgraded by installing ROPS—and farmers can defray the cost, which varies from less than $200 to nearly $6,000, depending on the make and model of tractor—through a national rebate program that began in 2007.
The National ROPS Rebate Program helps farmers with approximately 70 percent of the cost of purchasing and installing the safety equipment. The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety (NEC) administers the program, and states cover the cost of the actual rebates, though the amount of support states provide varies widely and waiting lists are common.
Despite the proven success of the safety measure, however, the NEC is facing a funding shortfall and may have to shut down the program in 2024—because even if states continue to supply money for rebates, if the NEC doesn’t have money to administer the program, it cannot continue to run. To keep it going, administrators need $125,000 a year. Read the full story.
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The latest from Walanthropy:
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Diving—and Dying—for Red Gold: The Human Cost of Honduran Lobster
The Walton Family Foundation invested in a Honduran lobster fishery, targeting its sustainability and touting its success. Ten years later, thousands of workers have been injured or killed.
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Op-ed: Walmart's Outsized Catch
Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation have relied on a debatable definition of “sustainable” seafood that allows it to achieve its sourcing goals without fundamentally changing its business model.
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Walmart and EDF Forged an Unlikely Partnership. 17 Years Later, What's Changed?
We talk with Elizabeth Sturcken for an up-close look at the sustainability alliance between the environmental nonprofit and the retail behemoth.
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Walmart’s ‘Regenerative Foodscape’
Walmart’s efforts to redefine itself as a regenerative company are at odds with its low-cost model, and combined with the Walton family’s vast investments in regenerative agriculture, have the potential to remake the marketplace.
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The Long Reach of the Walmart-Walton Empire
Walmart’s annual revenues are larger than the GDP of Sweden; its founding family are prolific philanthropists. Their nexus is poorly understood.
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Stay tuned for more reporting on Walmart and the Walton Family's unprecedented influence over food, policy, and the planet.
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