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The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/14/2008 10:36:32 AM
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solomonsprayer
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http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/odd-numbers/2008/09/09/the-wal-mart-diet
I saw this interesting article linked to Yahoo! about how shopping at Wal-Mart can lead to healthier living/dieting. The study's basic premise is that shopping at Wal-Mart allows people to buy cheaper products, saving them money that they can then use on healthier food choices (which cost more than uhealthy foods). I'm not sure of the study size and what kinds of parameters were used, but it's an interesting vantage point into the issue. ....Most people assume that discount stores and cheap fast food places make people gain weight through cheap high fat types of foods. Both claims/suggestions are shown to be arguably false (see the other study linked from same page)....
I don't know about the fast fod argument, but I agree that shopping at Wal-Mart does save me a lot of money and gas. I can usually get everything I need there and at a cheap price, which then allows me extra savings to spend on healthier foods or dining if I should choose.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/14/2008 10:39:18 AM
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solomonsprayer
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quote:
ORIGINAL: stellaluna
Plus, you walk a mile before you ever leave the store. 
Yeah LOL.....Also, it can save time if you don't drive and go to a billion other places to get things...Just get it all at Wal-Mart and then save time/money and then use those assets to do and eat more healthy things.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/14/2008 11:13:38 PM
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sunshine4God
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From: Sterling Ct.
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Lol,You do alot of walking at our super walmart.They have an eyeglass place there,etm,Dunkin Donuts,and a photo place plus the grocery aisle.
_____________________________
Matthew 5:16.
"Let your light so shine before men that they will see
your good deeds and glorify your Lord".
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 12:22:35 PM
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psalm867
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quote:
ORIGINAL: stellaluna
Plus, you walk a mile before you ever leave the store.
Exactly, LOL!
_____________________________
Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 2:03:23 PM
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HisCovenant
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That's very interesting, but where does the theory that the difference saved will be spent on higher priced, quality foods (either in Walmart or in another store?) In my experience, those that are going to Walmart for the express purpose of saving a buck spend the savings in another area of life, not health foods. Granted, some spend it on some form of exercise (sports fees, equipment, gym membership) which could contribute to the findings... but most that I know are saving the difference, spending it on needs (clothing, automobiles, housing) or buying luxuries unassociated with health (Starbucks, lunches out, dates.)
Maybe I'm just skeptical, but I don't know a single person saying "I think I will buy Walmart's lower quality produce, mass produced products, and toxic cleaners so I can afford ____________(insert any expensive, high quality item) from a health food store." Frankly, the people I know who are into the higher quality items are into it as an all around lifestyle. They don't choose low quality in some areas and high quality in others... I mean, even when those who would mostly buy at Walmart choose a higher priced product, they aren't choosing a really high quality product. For example, they may choose Olive Oil in place of other cooking oils, but they are still buying the cheapest ones and at times choosing the lower quality pressings of the olive (not EVOO.) I am aware of some arguments against this: every step counts and is helpful; EVOO vs OO won't make a difference in weight loss; etc.
I can see that weight gain and cheap foods may not be equal, but I just don't buy that the savings are going into higher quality foods. Maybe I just don't know the right people... maybe my definition of "high quality" exceeds the writer's definition... but I don't buy it.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 3:06:30 PM
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pumpkin
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I think what it was trying to say was that instead of buying a large bag of cookies, they might be able to buy a bag of apples... where the same bag of apples would cost more at another store. I don't think it's saying that they buy higher quality at a health food store because they saved some money at walmart... just that they can buy healthier (than what they might buy because that's all they can afford elsewhere) foods for less money. No one is saying that you can buy the best all around produce and such at walmart, but let me say this...
we shop almost exclusively at walmart. Why? Price/cost. We can buy fruits and veggies there for less than some of the other stores, and yes, sometimes it is an inferior quality... but buying those apples are sure better for us than buying cookies. Buying salad makings is do-able instead of having to have just starches. We buy a lot of produce, and we do our best to buy fresh foods, but canned/boxed is usually cheaper... thanks to walmart, we can afford the fresh foods. =)
We have a local super-market that if you don't have your 'discount' card you would likely pay as much as 3 times the amount for the very same type of apples, grapes, etc... Rarely do we find comparable prices unless they are on some special.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 3:12:44 PM
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stellaluna
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Our Wal-Mart actually carries quite a bit of organic and all-natural food and products. And they're a lot cheaper than going over to the "health food" store.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 3:19:10 PM
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pumpkin
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yes, our walmart carries *some* organic produce, but not a great amount. I wish they had more.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 4:52:10 PM
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DreadPirateRandy
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quote:
ORIGINAL: solomonsprayer
I saw this interesting article linked to Yahoo! about how shopping at Wal-Mart can lead to healthier living/dieting.
Being trapped inside of Wal-Mart for a length of four hours is anything but healthy. In fact, it has the capabilities of driving one mentally insane.
quote:
The study's basic premise is that shopping at Wal-Mart allows people to buy cheaper products, saving them money that they can then use on healthier food choices.
Our receipt says otherwise. Also, we have to drive 30 miles to the nearest Wal-Mart, so gas prices are also a factor.
I dread every time I hear, "we need to make a trip to Wal-Mart."
In the immortal words of Luke Skywalker: "NOOOOOOOO!"
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The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 6:40:53 PM
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solomonsprayer
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quote:
ORIGINAL: HisCovenant
That's very interesting, but where does the theory that the difference saved will be spent on higher priced, quality foods (either in Walmart or in another store?) In my experience, those that are going to Walmart for the express purpose of saving a buck spend the savings in another area of life, not health foods. Granted, some spend it on some form of exercise (sports fees, equipment, gym membership) which could contribute to the findings... but most that I know are saving the difference, spending it on needs (clothing, automobiles, housing) or buying luxuries unassociated with health (Starbucks, lunches out, dates.)
Maybe I'm just skeptical, but I don't know a single person saying "I think I will buy Walmart's lower quality produce, mass produced products, and toxic cleaners so I can afford ____________(insert any expensive, high quality item) from a health food store." Frankly, the people I know who are into the higher quality items are into it as an all around lifestyle. They don't choose low quality in some areas and high quality in others... I mean, even when those who would mostly buy at Walmart choose a higher priced product, they aren't choosing a really high quality product. For example, they may choose Olive Oil in place of other cooking oils, but they are still buying the cheapest ones and at times choosing the lower quality pressings of the olive (not EVOO.) I am aware of some arguments against this: every step counts and is helpful; EVOO vs OO won't make a difference in weight loss; etc.
I can see that weight gain and cheap foods may not be equal, but I just don't buy that the savings are going into higher quality foods. Maybe I just don't know the right people... maybe my definition of "high quality" exceeds the writer's definition... but I don't buy it.
That's a good critique of the study. I think that there's truth to what you say in my personal observationns, as well, and there is a lot of logic to what you say.
On the other hand, I also do have friends who are exactly the type that you are asking about - those who buy both low quality and very high quality products and goods. They are indeed rare, but they do exist and share highly similar characteristics.
I think if we look JUST at that bracket of people and assume that it is significant enough (in numbers I mean), then the Wal-Mart diet argument still holds up. Even if it is true that many of the people who shop at Wal-Mart do so for the savings, and they use those savings on non-high quality/non-health food products and goods, there may still be enough of the "high-low quality spender" to make this a statistically viable argument.
The four people I know who are the "high-low quality spenders" (we need to give them a better nickname...like bi-polar spender? lol...) are in fact elitists. They are very fasionable and trendy (even if in their own minds) and desire high quality products, such as Coach or Louis Vuitton bags...clothing from high end fasion stores like YSL, Club Monaco, Armani...luxury cars, etc. .. The problem, however, is that they are not very rich, but want to live that way or in that style. ....When I went to dinner with one of the girls from church like that, she said:
"I don't understand why people can't have nice things? Everyone can have nice things if they just buy cheaper things that are essentials and save enough to buy quality clothes or technology gadgets. My sister is so stupid. She wastes all her part-time job money on dumb things and complains that I have all these nice things as if I have more money than her. We both had similar jobs in school and I never made more than her. I just know how to budget my money better and I buy what I like. I don't buy a lot of useless stuff."
Another friend of mine who is an art major and kind of a metro-sexual guy said in a convo before:
"I guess I would rather have a couple of really nice outfits and clothes and then buy a bunch of essentials that don't matter like t-shirts, socks, etc. than have a bunch of mediocre quality clothes. I can mix and match with jeans and t-shirt that are cheap essentials and wear my better outfits to places that are nice. I just wouldn't buy something from GAP or J.C. Penney's...That's what I did when I didn't have any money."
My other two friends have similar frames of mind and are super shoppers. Even the cheap stuff they buy seems pretty good sometimes. They can find better looking, better bargain stuff at like the Dollar Store than I can get elsewhere and they know exactly what they want in terms of the "quality" and "high-end and fasionable" stuff and then budget to get the other life essentials. ...That's their way of managing their finances. If they were rich...well, one of them is now, but not the other three yet, then they'd just get all quality products. But since they are early career and student stypes, then they just use this high-low quality spending strategy to get by.
In terms of food selection, they are also health freaks. They want to be in super shape and look good and mind what they eat and the same concepts apply....They can buy cheap foods that are decent quality, not necessarily bad quality andn then buy better foods as well. I don't know how they do it with food so much, but I know they use the high-low spending technique with otehr stuff. Everytime I go out to eat with these four they always order the most healthy and/or trendy items and don't mind spending a lot for good food (to them).  All of them love sushi and salads.  ..I should ask them about the Wal-Mart Diet for their input. I know oneo f the church girls shops super cheap for essentials at a local Big Box Store and always eats expensive when she goes out.
One final detail to this puzzle is that none of these four are considered poor. ..They aren't rich, but they are not poor either, so they are not so bad off that they cannot practically use this strategy without some other part of their finances or life suffering. They also seem to have some parental help in terms of money allowances every onw and then.
< Message edited by solomonsprayer -- 9/15/2008 7:04:48 PM >
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/15/2008 7:08:13 PM
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solomonsprayer
Posts: 538
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Btw, I think my last comment abuot the high-low spenders not being poor is also a very essential point to the argument. ...These are people who could truly benefit the most from a Wal-Mart in the way the study shows. ..They are not super rich as to be ablet o buy anything they want with no regard for price, but also are not poor or borderline poor in a way that they must use their Wal-Mart savings on rent, bills, etc. ...The savings they'd get from Wal-Mart or other cheap places can be used for high quality items elsewhere.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/16/2008 8:20:47 AM
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monamie
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When I first began my journey to true health, I was poor. I was really poor. WM was no help to me. At our WM at that time, the produce was brown and the meat was green. I shopped at another grocery store with a much fresher selection and it was definitely worth the difference in price. I'm a frugal shopper and I can squeeze a lot out of a dollar, whether it's food or clothes.
The produce at our WM has improved, but I still rarely go there. Since I don't purchase meat there (it's all pre-packaged somewhere else and shipped in, and they don't have buffalo or free range chicken), I'd still have to go to another store to get everything I needed.
For food, I have learned that that good food is more filling and we eat less, so I'm not really spending a lot more on food. And we're healthier and don't spend $$ on doctors or meds--even over the counter meds.
For clothes, I can shop pricier department stores' clearance racks. We even have a great Goodwill where I can sometimes find designer clothes. Nobody had any idea we were as poor as we were. And now that I do have more disposable income (who decided to call it "disposable"?????), I'm glad I learned to bargain shop so that I don't waste the extra $$ I do have.
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Unforgiveness is the poison we drink hoping others will die.
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RE: The Wal-Mart Diet - 9/16/2008 10:13:46 AM
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IonMoon
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From: The Unted State of Confusion
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I buy a lot of basic foodstuff from WalMart. They have just as many high quality brands as any other store in my area. The produce of ours varies in quality, but it is often as good as at other local stores--probably depends on where it is being shipped from/to. I also shop at a local health food store for some specific items. WM has a lot of the same brand names as my local health food store, but for about 1/2 the price. Some things it makes sense to me to spend more for a specialty item (uncured turkey bacon/hot dogs), for others it isn't as important.
Some things I prefer higher-end stores for- most of my clothes I shop department stores clearance sales; but other things are just as good or better at WM. For instance... I have particular brands of toilet paper & paper towels I like tha WM has. And small appliances, housewares, etc I often see the identical brand/model at department stores for much more than at WM. Why would I spend more at another store to get the identical item?!?
It is important to be a smart shopper--know what you are getting and how much it is worth.
As far as this study goes, it is bunk. The conclusions drawn are not scientifically accurate. It is absolutely impossible based on their methods to cite a cause-effect relationship like they have.
Tara P
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