Is Aldi less evil than Wal-Mart?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm looking for a less morally repugnant source of discount groceries...

Please leave thoughtful commentary below. Thanks.

My answer is yes - but admittedly, more because Aldi's was the local small-town grocery store when I was living in Austria. Called Hofer's there; but the same logo, and the chain began in Europe. So, sentimental memories; nothing like objective.

If this is a question of ethics, then I blame the powers that be, not the consumer or even the supermarket. With the best intensions and a limited budget I put items in my trolley and don't ask any questions. With the exception of eggs from the arses of caged hens...

I have no idea what Aldi is

I have shopped at Aldi and I hated it. Food tasted horrible, the floor looked like it hadn't been swept in weeks, etc.

Best solution, become a farmer and make your own food. Gives you complete control over food quality
Next best solution, go to a farmers market.

Aldi tastes like dirt, and although I've never been in Wallmart I've heard they are a decent employer, so they seem to be far from evil.

Were the people you heard it from minorities I worked there for 25months. The minorities kept goofing off all night long & I would get told by management to help them out because two of em couldn't finish a task I could do in half a night. When I was hired on I was scheduled for 40hours a week & working overtime because I started rite before Christmas & then we had a remodel. I was listed as a temporary employee for the 1st 3months I worked there which was the maximum amount of time they could keep someone as a temp. When the 3month period was up; they listed me as part-time & told me I had to stay under 33hours. But when we were short-handed management told me I could work full-time hours & even overtime when things were really bad. & sometimes they would tell me I could work extra at the begging of the week & then make me cut time at the end. I did not get my 3month review & raise till I had been working there for 6months because I was considered temporary for the 1st 3months & the review is 3months after being permanent. I was not considered full-time till rite before my one year anniversary probably because they didn't want to give me benefits & after being there a year they had to give me some anyways; I bet I averaged close to 40 hours if not more for that 1st year because they were quick to let me work over-time when they needed me.

Management & my supervisor kept coming to me for things because they knew I was reliable & would get it done. I became sort of an unofficial backup to my supervisor which meant that I had responsibility but no actual authority. We had a contract crew assisting us because we were shorthanded but they were screw-us & management kept pulling me off the work I was supposed to be doing to do special projects or do stuff the contract crew should of been doing . I was getting in trouble with different mangers because I was not getting the work I was supposed to be doing done. One night a manager pulled me off & told me to ignore all orders that did not come from her. The head-manager had me paged to do something else but she didn't make the page herself so I ignored it like I was told. She chewed me out for not listening to the page & she didn't give me a chance to explain. I couldn't take the stress anymore & I quit when I finished my work. A month latter my supervisor was transferred to another department because he got into an argument with the contract crew & shortly after that the rest of the people in my department were transferred to others & the contract crew took over full time. I feel I was kinda forced out I think because I would of had problems working in other departments due to my disabilities & management didn't want to fire me because of the disabilities act.


BTW the beginning of my post should NOT be considered an attack against minorities. They were some very hard-working ones there but some(NOT all) were really lazy slackers. Whites were not allowed to be at the store I was at

I prefer Save-a-Lot stores. I know nothing of their corporate politics, but I can state that in my area their stores have been a welcome addition. In a couple of cases their stores have revived 1950s shopping centers that were all but dead. In another case they built an expensively detailed compatible new store in an historic neighborhood.

Also, the small square footage, emphasis on basics and low prices render the stores very useful for the elderly, infirm and poor. And I notice an improvement in the fresh fruit and vegetable offerings.

If you want your shopping to be as ethical as possible, just get it from a small local shop. Supporting those types of businesses is the best thing you can do from an ethical standpoint.

This won't fix all your grocery needs, but in the spirit of saving money on groceries without ethical problems... with Spring coming on, can you grow any of your own produce? It actually isn't difficult or expensive. You can pot things like green peppers in paint buckets and they taste WAY better than the waxy, engineered veggies at any grocery store. I had a small veggie garden like this on the 3rd floor balcony for a year.

In urban areas, you can often sign up with a group of small farms to get a big box of fresh veggies, eggs, etc. every two weeks. Again, you save by cutting out the middleman, and get better quality.

Still better, some cities have community gardens. You may have to sit on a list to get in, but they give you a chunk of land to grow stuff on... for FREE. And your neighbors will likely trade produce with you so you don't get bored of the same stuff! Yes, this requires you to get a bit of a tan and some exercise.

As far as meat, you can get chicken for a fairly low price, and it's healthier. I like to get a whole bunch of chicken breasts at once, and have each cut in half and packaged. I throw them in the freezer and take one down each morning. Properly frozen, they keep for a long long time. You can do beef the same way.

These are all solutions where you can save $$$ on your food and not have to eat food out of cans and microwave meals. Both are salt mines.

I'm not from the US, but I am familiar with Wallmart owned stores. Frankly, that sounds a lot like the hellish BS every employer puts employees though. It's unfair, but most places are like that. I've done work experience in an office, and it was the same kind of constant contradictory ill defined orders, and overtime. I'd never treat an employee like that, but frankly the current promotion systems ensure the backstabbing sociopaths climb right to the top of the pile

States have sued Wal-Mart because their employees create an undue burden on the Medicare system—meaning they are below the poverty line and have no medical coverage.
Wal-Mart also encourages near slave labor in emerging countries and enriches and empowers the murders and thugs that run China…
Wal-Mart never gets my money if I have an alternative…



I don’t really eat much processed foods. My staples are couscous, rice, dry legumes, veggies, with a bit of yogurt and meat. I always grow tomatoes, and during the season I by fresh produce (tomatoes, corn, onions, squash, etc…) but this time of year I eat a lot of frozen veggies.
I guess my best bet for ethical consuming is to pay a bit more and just go “Mom&Pop.”

They offer health insurance if you've been there a year & are full-time. Blue-Cross/Blue-Shield of Alabama is what I had.

WalMart does not have cheap prices like some people believe & they don't have much competition in my area. Mom & pop places cant get started to compete. We have a lot of Rouses Supermarkets thou. They were originally a local grocery store here but they expanded a lot in Louisiana; they have some in Mississippi to & I think one or two other states but I forget which ones. I submitted apps to a couple of em here a few times but haven't heard anything.

WalMart looks at what similar type stores in the area/district are paying employees as a guide so if you live in a more rural area where there's fewer similar type stores; WalMart pays less

Yeah, but just look at your own experience... How many people are stuck in 33hr/wk hell?
Those are the people bankrupting Maryland's Medicare system. Those are the people Wal-Mart is really screwing... along with the tax payers of Maryland and every other state they do business in.

A lot of the people at my store were full-time after being there a year at least the ones overnight anyways. Lots of places won't offer health insurance till you've been there 6months anyways even if you start at full-time.
I don't get what that has to do with Medicare. People have to be receiving Social Security Disability or Social Security Retirement in order to be eligible for Medicare. If they are currently receiving benefits; working a full 40hour week could make their income to high so they could potentially lose their benefits. Some people want to be part time so they can still collect their benefits

The shopping carts at Wal-mart are always so noisy!