First Lady Michelle Obama is celebrating the fourth anniversary of Let’s Move, an initiative dedicated to raising a healthier generation of children.
We at Walmart are marking a bit of a milestone, too. It was just over three years ago when we first stood alongside Mrs. Obama and announced a groundbreaking commitment to help address a near-universal challenge for families across the country: how to put healthier, more affordable food on the dinner table each night.
“I believe this is a huge victory for folks all across this country. When I see a company like Walmart launch an initiative like this, I feel more hopeful than ever before." - Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States of America, Jan. 2011
That moment was a turning point for us. As the nation’s largest grocer, we realized we had the opportunity and the responsibility to make things a little easier for our customers, who often shop our grocery aisles on a limited budget. If we could change for the better, then we could move our supply chain and our customers along with us.
In the spirit of the Let’s Move anniversary, we’re taking a look back at some of the ways we’ve moved our company and the communities we serve toward a healthier, new norm.
- In the first two years of our commitment, we saved our customers $2.3 billion on fresh fruits and vegetables.
- We reduced sodium by 9%, sugars by 10% and trans fats by 50%.
- We opened 86 stores in urban and rural USDA-designated food deserts, bringing healthier food options to more than 264,000 people.
- We launched Great For You in stores as a way for shoppers to identify healthier choices across the grocery aisles.
Last summer, we launched a money-back, no-questions-asked guarantee on all our fresh produce at our more than 3,400 stores.
- With a focus on increasing nutrition literacy and equipping people with food and cooking skills, the Walmart Foundation has donated $26 million to food-focused nonprofits.
When we chose to take on improving access to healthier, affordable food, we set big goals, even when we couldn’t yet see how we would reach them. Though we know there’s more work to be done, we’re proud of our successes so far. As the First Lady said, we are showing that what is good for children and good for family budgets can also be good for building a stronger business. We’ll keep the movement going until no family has to choose between food that is good for them and food they can afford.
Stay tuned for more updates in April on our progress.