Trader Joe’s got a failing score on Greenpeace’s seafood sustainability scorecard last year — and unfortunately, held tight to its F in 2009 — despite the fact that more than half the other supermarkets improved their fishy scores.
It’s sad but true: The organic-friendly, budget-friendly super market’s still scoring lower than Target and Wal-Mart when it comes to sustainable seafood — as readers Don of LA Stories and Mel have already discovered.
Dubbed Carting Away the Oceans: How Grocery Stores are Emptying the Seas, Greenpeace’s report scored supermarkets on their fish purchasing policies, checking to see if any endangered “red list” fish— like orange roughy, swordfish, and Chilean sea bass — were still being sold, and whether or not sustainable seafood policies or initiatives were implemented. No supermarkets got a “Good” score, but 7 stores — with Wegman’s, Ahold USA, and Whole Foods topping the list — earned a “Pass” score. The remaining 13 — including Trader Joe’s — were labeled “Fail.”
This means that if you do your seafood shopping at a major supermarket or grocery store, you’d be well advised to carry along a Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Guide to avoid buying any enviro-questionable seafood.
If you’re lucky enough to have co-ops or other health food markets near you, check to see if Greenpeace has given it a score — because some smaller and indie stores actually get passing grades! At those places, your seafood shopping will be less stressful, since you won’t have to constantly consult your Seafood Watch guide.
Of course, if you’re concerned about your mercury consumption as well as species preservation, you’ll still need a separate guide. Thanks to reader Mel, I’ve found a new seafood guide that combines all this info! Neil Banas made an eco-nerdy seafood guide (PDF) merging together eco and toxins info. Print it out and enjoy sustainable, healthy seafood –
Earlier:
>> New local fish guides for SoCal
>>The End of the Line is in theaters now.
>> Tuna trivia: How much albacore can you eat?
Images via Greenpeace and Monterey Bay Aquarium
Update: Traitor Joe’s: Greenpeace attacks on Trader Joe’s fishy policies
Update, 3/29/10: No longer Traitor Joe’s: Trader Joe’s adopts sustainable seafood policies
Thanks for posting this! I’ve always wondered about their seafood. Can’t bring myself to ever by the “Atlantic Salmon”. Thanks for the PDF!
Comment by Christine Kwok — June 30, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
Unfortunately Trader Joe’s has a pretty positive brand reputation towards being green–but they don’t really have a green initiative or anything like that.
I like Trader Joe’s because it’s affordable and often you can find quaility food, but it seems that they only real leader in caring about their environmental impact is Whole Foods (I’m speaking about big chains specifically.)
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2009 @ 5:16 pm
It’s a good thing I pretty much never buy fish (cooking it’s too troublesome) — so I never really have to contend with this issue. But I do get smoked wild atlantic salmon at Trader Joe’s sometimes, which at this point pretty much sounds like the only fish the chain offers that’s sustainable –
Comment by Siel — July 3, 2009 @ 5:54 pm
actually, none of the atlantic salmon is sustainable. i would say avoid TJ’s for fish and seafood altogether.
Comment by alexis — July 5, 2009 @ 9:48 pm
Wait I meant Alaskan! Sorry about that. I had just read Christine’s comment b/4 writing the comment and had Atlantic on my mind. TJs does indeed have Alaskan salmon — at least sometimes….
Comment by Siel — July 5, 2009 @ 9:54 pm
Luckily TJ’s doesn’t carry all the items listed by Greenpeace, in fact less than Wegman’s at #1. As a TJ’s employee, I canceled my membership to Greenpeace for their false information and the misleading manner they approached people in TJ’s gear. You can’t fight an ethical debate with unethical practices of your own.
Comment by mp — July 16, 2009 @ 2:31 am
Well TJs itself has acknowledged that it continues to carry red list fish — with a v. silly, bad excuse, I might add. TJ’s statement is basically that yes we sell endangered fish, but we’re trying to “fully understand” the market for that fish — whatever the hell that means :P What’s left to evaluate? Stop selling red list fish already! :P
Comment by Siel — July 20, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
Speak up about Monterey water
Hi I’d like to invite you to join the conversation about the water situation in the Monterey area. Our website is http://www.montereygreywater.com and there you’ll find Greenwaters, our water blog. The focus of both is to provide up to date news of our current water situation and extensive information on alternative water resources, such as greywater irrigation and rainwater catchment. The blog is designed to be everyone’s voice, in the hope that an open forum will help the best solutions to be found quickly. So please take a look, and speak your peace. A link will be added to you site from mine as a way of saying thanks for your involvement. It’s the least I can do. Thank again for speaking up.
Comment by David Glover — February 5, 2010 @ 7:14 pm