Last week, Walmart trumpeted a major new commitment to sustainable agriculture and supporting local small farms. Coupled with the enormous numbers -- training for 1 million farmers! Investing $1 billion to make its produce supply chain more efficient! -- there were nuggets of common-sense wisdom, the kind that is music to sustainability advocates' ears: In an interview with Food Safety News, Ron McCormick, senior director for Strategic Food Sourcing, said, "It made sense to us, that if we could revitalize [the] economies [of declining rural areas], it would let us buy fresher product for our customers and save food miles. At the same time, we would be supporting many rural communities that support our stores."


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