The grocery store chain Trader Joe's has announced it will only sell seafood harvested sustainably by the end of 2012. This comes in response to criticism and a campaign by Greenpeace and also to address numerous customer requests over the years.
The company said it will begin working with third-party groups to define sustainability, ensuring that canned, frozen and fresh fish sold in stores across the country will come from sustainable sources. They will also create more specific labels for fish, including catch methods and Latin names.
Most of us are already quite aware of the dangers of overfishing around the globe and we can applaud such efforts to change unsustainable and ignorant business practices. We can only hope that the entities that are put in place to monitor and oversee this policy ensure that the entirely of the commitment by Trader Joe's is adhered to.
WAIT A MINUTE!!! Shouldn't we be able to do more than just hope!! We as consumers are the recipients of and participants in all sustainable and unsustainable business practices. So, it is also up to us to play our roles as overseers of these commitments. Clearly, if we believe in something and yet are confronted with red flags indicating conflicting information or claims, we must make it known that we are aware of the "greenwash" and that we intend to hold all up to those standards at all times.
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