We saw this article in The New York Times and couldn't overlook how wildly inaccurate it is, so we had some fun with it. I hope you will too.

Here are the links we mentioned in our edits:

1. Associate story re: public assistance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WwGhOhRH38
2. Ed Schultz on Polifact.com re: public assistance: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/may/23/ed-schultz/ed-schultz-says-walmart-worke...
3. Jason Furman on Walmart and the economy: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/dialogues/features/2006/is_walmart_good_for_the_amer...

For Juan Carlos Urquia, there was always an excitement associated with finishing his homework. It meant he could join his father on their small, 3-acre farm in the tiny rural community of Ocotal, almost three hours away from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.

As young as 5, he enjoyed helping his father raise and harvest corn, beans and cucumbers more than anything. He immediately sensed the responsibility of producing food people needed to survive. More than three decades later, Juan Carlos still finds joy in the field. Only, these days, his passion has evolved into an opportunity for his extended family and a growing number of others in the community to make a living.

Juan Carlos’ care and attention to detail sparked an opportunity to begin filling orders of several hundred cucumbers per week for Walmart in 2006. That opportunity has since grown to more than 25,000 cucumbers per week, and the family farm has spread to nearly 100 acres.

With access to stores across Honduras, Juan Carlos has created full-time jobs for 20 people, many of them siblings and cousins. And that has created work for nearly 100 others in the community who work to clean, process and transport the cucumbers, tomatoes and onions he grows, as well as those who supply fertilizer and other materials to sustain the operations.

The care was always there, even in the days when Juan Carlos was learning from his father. But, through support from Walmart and other organizations committed to delivering training and best practices to farmers in the areas of sustainable agriculture, efficiency and optimization, they’ve seized an opportunity. In fact, Honduran farmers sold more than $148 million in fruit, vegetables, grains, meats and other perishables to Walmart in 2015. This is equivalent to approximately 6.5% of the national agricultural gross domestic product and helped boost the country’s agricultural exports.

When Juan Carlos was a boy, he and his extended family all lived under his father’s roof. Through their commitment to the farm, he, his siblings and cousins all have their own homes today – and that’s something they’re extremely proud of. They're not just producing food. They're creating opportunity and raising the quality of life for those around them.

Small and medium-sized farmers around the world will be counted on to meet half the increased global demand for food and clothing through the year 2050, and Walmart has committed to specific goals to improve their livelihoods. You can read more about this work in our Global Responsibility Report.

When I arrived in Pass Christian, Mississippi, in 2009, I knew putting down roots would come with its share of challenges. A native of Peru, I didn't speak much English and couldn't even help my 9-year-old daughter with her homework. But I was willing to do whatever it took as long as there was an opportunity.

Walmart store #5079 extended me that opportunity as a part-time associate in the deli. Being able to make a living in my new country not only motivated me to learn English, but also pursue my GED certificate so I could better provide for and assist my daughter. Looking back, doors have continued to open for me from the very first day I was hired. I’ve made lifelong friends, earned U.S. citizenship, been promoted to full-time training coordinator, and built a life I'd always envisioned – which includes long walks with my family along the Gulf Coast.

Today, my English – and confidence – have grown so much that I’m pursuing my new dream of becoming a human resources manager with Walmart. Taking inspiration from my store manager, Lynn Day, I’ve started working toward my associate degree through Walmart’s partnership with American Public University.

Encouragement and support from people like Lynn helps me continue to realize my goals. She’s such a great mentor to me – and that’s what I want to become for the people around me.

I believe that knowledge is power. And I believe if I have the knowledge, I have the power to help people.

It may seem like an unlikely career path, going from working at the Auto Care Center at Walmart to becoming a professional eye doctor.

Ten years ago, I would never have guessed that I would be headed into optometry. Ten years ago, I didn’t even really know what optometry was.

What I did know was that Walmart offered its associates opportunities to experience different types of jobs throughout the company. So once I completed our Management Training Program, I worked in several different departments. Each of them was interesting in a unique way, but nothing felt like the perfect fit.

Then a friend mentioned an opening in the Vision Center, and it was like a lightning strike. I immediately knew this was the direction I wanted to take. A colleague who was mentoring me saw my excitement and urged me to go back to school. My wife and I talked about it over the next year, and finally I took the plunge.

Within two years I had become a licensed optician, able to dispense glasses and contact lenses. It was a big step, but I knew I wanted to go further. So we packed up everything and moved to Memphis, hoping that I would be accepted to The Southern College of Optometry. Sure enough, our faith paid off and now I’m an associate doctor of optometry – finally doing something I’m passionate about.

I love helping people. I love putting that first pair of glasses on a kid, and watching his or her eyes light up, being able to see clearly for the first time.

Even though I have a lot of responsibilities, I still have the flexibility to spend time with my family. I’ve been incredibly blessed. And I can say with complete honesty had I not had that job changing tires at Walmart, I would not be where I am today.

If you’ve ever enjoyed a deep-fried Twinkie, it was probably at a state fair or from a food truck.

But did you know some people have been making them on their own for years? In fact, it’s one of the most popular recipes in an official Twinkie cookbook.

Very soon, they’ll be a whole lot easier to come by. I’m excited that Hostess has made this dream for Twinkie fans and dessert lovers everywhere a reality, bringing a frozen, ready-to-heat version to more than 4,000 of our stores nationwide by Aug. 16. Covered in a funnel cake-like batter, these treats will be available in Original Golden flavor and Chocolate, which we at Walmart worked with Hostess to create specifically for our customers.

When I started as a buyer for frozen snacks at Walmart a few years back, I knew there was a desire to push the envelope on the products we offer. Part of the way we do that is by working with our suppliers, helping them further refine items they’re testing so we can bring them to market. So when I heard rumblings that Hostess was considering a deep-fried Twinkie, I was intrigued. Not only was it something different for the frozen aisle – it filled a need, too, as we were looking to add more dessert choices to our mostly savory assortment.

We set up a meeting with Hostess to discuss the details. Why this product could succeed. How it lines up with our philosophy of making shopping fun and exciting again. How consumer trends tell us to focus on both products that are healthy and overindulgent – those “sometimes” foods that are so good they’re worth the calories. I talked about the way this product appeals to everyone: from the Boomers who have fond memories of Twinkies as children, to millennials craving a cool midnight snack.

The first prototypes Hostess brought to our kitchens were a far cry from the product you will see on shelves, but the potential was evident. So we continued to give feedback on taste, appearance, packaging and naming based on tests and what we’ve learned about consumers all over the business. Eventually, we got to the delicious final version now arriving in our stores. And thanks to Walmart, Hostess is growing by entering the frozen food aisle for the first time ever.

Opportunities like these are the reasons I have so much fun with my job. The fact that my fellow buyers and I get to interact and collaborate with vendors like Hostess is awesome to me. There’s so much room to be creative in serving our customers here at Walmart. That’s really who all this is about. Shopping isn’t only about prices; it should also be a fun experience to try new things. And what’s more exciting than a product that was previously only available at state fairs once a year, now being up for enjoyment anytime from your freezer?