While shopping for seafood in supermarkets, what most customers don’t know is that they might be carting away fish that are on the edge of extinction.
The question is: why do supermarkets sell endangered fish?
Well this is the question that Greenpeace, an activist organization that helps fight sustainability issues, pressure supermarkets to face by releasing a report several times a year showing where supermarkets stand when it comes to selling sustainable seafood.
On this list, one of the lowest ranking supermarkets is the well-known Trader Joe’s, who is known for being “green” and selling low-cost organic food.
According to Greenpeace, they sell 15 out of 22 of the red list fish. Red list means the fish are on the edge of extinction due to mass over-fishing and a slow reproduction rate. These include snapper, redfish, South Atlantic albacore tuna, swordfish, tropical shrimp and yellow fin tuna- to name a few.
Do any of these fish sound familiar? Well, they did to me when I first heard them and I had no idea they were endangered.
Greenpeace created a Web site dedicated to avoidance of this issue by Trader Joe’s, or according to them, Traitor Joe. It brings humor, while ridiculing Trader Joe’s for not “listening “ to consumers, which is something they usually pride themselves on.
Because of feedback by consumers, and pressure from Greenpeace, the company responded to the issue on their website. "We listen to our customers. Hearing recent feedback, our goal is to offer seafood options that fit customer needs ranging from food safety and taste, to concern over the environment... To continue in our efforts to support this goal, we intend to use the Monterey Bay Aquarium's science-based and research-backed Seafood Watch recommendations to help with our seafood purchasing decisions."
This is a good step in the right direction, but it is not action. Greenpeace has proved, by continuing to urge the public to pressure Trader Joe’s on their website (greenpeace.org), that they will not let down until they see action, and not words.
According to the report, Whole Foods ranked number three in overall seafood sustainability. Other supermarkets that beat out Trader Joe’s include Wal-mart, Target and Sam’s.
So, to readers, I would re-think shopping at Traitor Joe – oops, I mean Trader Joe’s- when craving seafood and maybe consider one of the supermarkets that at least have taken some action towards sustainable seafood.
And to all the people fighting this issue and activists at Greenpeace I say…
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.
This scares me. It reminds me a lot of the "don't be fooled" campaign when consumers were tricked into buying foods that were labeled to be "organic" and "whole grain". Terrible.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I'm glad they listened to their customers and responded in some way. I guess we'll have to see if they take action. Would be interesting to keep watch.
ReplyDelete