Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Greenpeace Takes on Trader Joe’s

From toilet paper to electronics, Greenpeace has become a go-to resource for all thing environmental, ranking options based on their eco-friendliness and taking action against companies who don’t change their ways. Now they’re tackling the issue of our oceans (like the rapid depletion of fish) with their Carting Away the Oceans ranking of how sustainable the seafood is at various supermarkets. Some of the results aren’t very surprising, like the first place supermarket being a family-owned chain with fewer stores and Whole Foods finishing in the top three, but other results are pretty shocking (for example not one supermarket chain received a rating of “Good”) perhaps none more so than eco-friendly-in-appearance Trader Joe’s, which ranked in the bottom five alongside chains like Price Chopper and H.E. Butt (and below Wal-Mart). Greenpeace scored Trader Joe’s so low for failing to respond to Greenpeace’s inquiries about their seafood policies, for selling 15 of 22 red list seafoods, and for greenwashing.
Greenpeace didn’t stop there, however, they organized a protest at Trader Joe’s (with protesters dressed as orange roughy, pictured above) and have set up a website called Traitor Joe’s where consumers can learn about what’s going on and contact Trader Joe’s. On the Traitor Joe’s website, a pirate named Traitor Joe elaborates about some of Trader Joe’s seafood practices, including selling orange roughy that is caught using a big bottom trawl that scoops up everything in its path. You can also check out the “singing catch of the day” (a Chilean seabass singing about red list seafoods to the tune of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” for example) and send a singing telegram to Trader Joe’s. Because Trader Joe’s has said that they make their purchasing decisions based on what their customers ask for, telling them that you want truly sustainable seafood could result in real change.
This isn’t the first time that Trader Joe’s, a chain with a green reputation for selling organic and natural products, has gotten in trouble for its products. A few years back they made headlines when an undercover investigation discovered that Trader Joe’s brand eggs were from chickens in battery cages (with up to eight debeaked hens in a single cage and cages stacked five high). The grocery store was quick to switch to cage-free eggs when the news broke, but lingering feelings of doubt were left about its business ideals.
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