• NPR, Friday, June 18, 2010 10:38 AM

Wal-Mart has begun a program to increase the amount of local produce sold in its stores by revitalizing small and midsize farms, Kelly MacNeil reports, which also benefits consumers by giving them access to fresher food. At the same time, the program is meant to soften the company's image as a corporate behemoth.

"[It] seemed to be a win all across the board if we could use our buying power to reinvigorate some of those old agricultural areas that had been abandoned over time," says Ron McCormick, head of Wal-Mart's Heritage Agriculture program, which works with about 350 farmers across the U.S.

Michelle Harvey of the Environmental Defense Fund says that when a company the size of Wal-Mart does something positive for the environment, the "ripple effects are huge." But the program has its skeptics.

"You can do a Heritage Agriculture program and buy certain products grown in Connecticut for your Connecticut stores," points out Jim Prevors, who writes the "Perishable Pundit". "But in the end it's not going to be a significant part of that Connecticut store's produce sales because most of the months of the year you can't grow anything in Connecticut."

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