Swimming upstream

By Doug Miller
Posted: July 2, 2009

Greenpeace likes Wegmans, but have they thought this infatuation through?

The environmental group famous for throwing itself between whales and harpooners just came out with its ranking of the 20 largest North American grocery chains when it comes to the sustainability of their respective seafood operations. Giant was No. 2, followed by Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, Harris Teeter and Wal-Mart. The others on the list with outlets in Howard County were Costco (10th) and Trader Joe’s (17th).

Greenpeace wants these supermarkets to stop stocking their seafood departments with the carcasses of endangered or protected species, quit contributing to the destruction of habitat and the decline of local fishing-dependent communities, and cut collateral damage to sea turtles, dolphins and such.

The group’s press release reports many chains have made progress, but some (including Trader Joe’s) “continue to stock ‘red list’ seafood like orange roughy, swordfish, or Chilean sea bass — some of the world’s most critically imperiled species.”

But sustainability has many facets. When Greenpeace’s top pick, Wegmans, gets its Columbia store up and running, how many more cars will it put on the road that are coming from all sorts of places where there’s a village center grocer within walking distance?

Comment on this entry • View 1 response

user independent says...

Consumers have decided that bigger is better, supersized is best of all. Anyone with a dollar votes, and we've voted to make businesses too big to fail, and voted to think about the consequences later. If our only large grocer is not profitable, will government find that taxpayers must support it? These days, it's a real possibility, because it's a great business model - no downside (credit: explorehoward.com in comments) Until we gain a critical mass of voters who are opposed to oversized living, those who live within their means and don't prioritize distinctions that are meaningless from a larger vantage, we'll continue on this path. Peace, living within one's means, being late rather than risking a life, enjoying what you can get from a grocery rather than coveting what you don't have, checking on your children, lightening one's schedule are all things for the weak, or so we've decided. "They called him Moshe. Moshe the beadle" - From Elie Weisel's Night referencing dismissal of the pesky mentally challenged man who foresaw the holocaust and tried to warn others.

Posted 10:42 AM, 07.03.09 | Permalink