Will America’s Largest Retailer Fix the Way We Eat?

Wal-Mart, the country’s largest retailer, announced plans this week for a 5-year-initiative to lower the trans-fat, salt, and sugar content of its packaged goods and  decrease the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables in an effort to address some of the nation’s most pressing health concerns, says a report in the New York Times. The company also plans to put the screws to major food suppliers like Kraft, to get them to follow suit. While its motivations may arguably be nothing more than a genius marketing plan to win over dubious consumers and city, state, and community officials (who view the Wal-Mart as a ruiner of communities and slayer of the mom-and-pop shop countrywide)–and, subsequently, open more stores to further broaden their profit margin–the plan has caught the attention of First Lady and childhood obesity crusader Michele Obama, who has given the company her full support.