Why would I want to buy from WalMart when I can buy direct from the farmer, and in some cases, buy a yearly subscription so he can have the money up front to do his planting, equipment repair, etc. And I get fantastic and fresh produce, eggs, and just about anything else that can come off the farm.

I don't want WalMart as my middleman!

It's an amazing statement of "local foods" cache, and political and economic value when a corporate giant like MalWart gets invested! While this is a good thing on the surface,or short-term, spreading the word to customers and other businesses about the value of "going local", hopefully, with proper labelling, and also supporting some local or regional [large-scale] producers through large-scale contracts. However, they're still in the business of under-cutting both the producer and the rest of the local community of businesses through their pricing policies, ultimately creating a "monocrops" of businesses - theirs and the ones they "own", literally or figuratively.

I don't want them as a middleman either, and hope that the countering part of the "buy local" equation is focused on the 'buy cottage- or farm-direct' from locally owned entrepreneurs, growers and community-based businesses.