Scouring for healthier options may become easier at Walmart. Walmart's new initiatives to provide fresh produce at an affordable price to its customers will make money-saving and healthy eating one and the same.

After committing to make healthier foods more affordable in 2011, and to double produce sales by 2015, Walmart launched its produce initiative on Monday. The initiative intends to improve produce sourcing and operations, ensuring that customers can lead healthier lives at lower costs. On its website, Walmart claims, "We believe a family shouldn't have to choose between food that is healthier for them and food they can afford."

Much of this change stems from customer demand. Given new awareness of the benefits of healthier eating, including but not limited to longer lifespan, fewer incidences of chronic disease, and weight loss, customers have been tempted to shop specialty stores for top-grade produce. In response, Walmart intends to provide the same quality of fresh produce and ingredients at a lower price.

''We're listening to our customers and delivering on our promise to offer great produce at the most affordable price,'' said Jack Sinclair, executive vice president of the grocery business for Walmart's United States division, which has garnered 55 percent of its total sales last year in groceries.

What's more, Walmart's produce will not only be affordable, but also be part of Walmart's trademark Money-Back Guarantee. The corporation hopes that this will help to build consumer confidence in the quality of its produce.

"We are so confident in the quality of produce that we want our customers to be aware of our money-back guarantee -- no questions asked and no need to bring back the produce," said Sinclair.

To ensure quality, Walmart hired produce experts to work directly with farmers to ensure that high-quality and locally grown produce is offered at all of their supermarkets. Walmart has also launched a program to teach 70,000 of its associates proper techniques for produce handling, stocking, and identification of freshness. It has also been stated that independent teams will be inspecting produce departments weekly to ensure a high produce standard, so that only the freshest produce makes it the shelves.