U.S. Supermarket Trader Joes Ranked Worst Nationally (Again)

In the third edition of Greenpeaces seafood sustainability scorecard Carting Away the Oceans, more than half of the leading supermarket chains in the U.S. have made some sign of progress in increasing the sustainability of their seafood operations.

The supermarket chain Wegmans received top ranking followed by Ahold USA, while Whole Foods dropped to third place from its December 2008 first place ranking. Trader Joes remains ranked at # 17, the worst ranking of the national supermarket chains surveyed. Three regional chains ranked at the bottom.

Of the 20 largest supermarket chains in the United States, nine remain that have made no visible effort to increase the sustainability of their seafood operations and continue to ignore scientific warnings about the crisis facing global fisheries and the marine environment. These include: Aldi, Costco, Giant Eagle, H.E.B., Meijer, Price Chopper, Publix, Trader Joes, and Winn Dixie. Despite the progress of many companies, all continue to stock “red list” seafood like orange roughy, swordfish, or Chilean sea bass – some of the worlds most critically imperiled species. None of the companies featured in the report guarantee that they wont sell seafood from fisheries that are harming sea turtles, dolphins, seals, sea lions, or other marine mammals.

“The good news is that seafood sustainability is now on the radar of many major retailers so we are seeing a shift in practices, but much more progress is needed,” said Greenpeaces Senior Markets Campaigner, Casson Trenor. “Unfortunately, our oceans remain in crisis and retailers that ignore this fact are contributing to the collapse of our marine ecosystems.”

The rankings are:

1. Wegmans
2. Ahold USA (Stop & Shop, Giant)
3. Whole Foods
4. Target
5. Safeway (Dominicks, Genuardi’s, Pavilions, Randall’s, Von’s)
6. Harris Teeter
7. Walmart
8. Delhaize (Bloom, Food Lion, Hannaford Bros., Sweetbay)
9. Kroger (Baker’s, City Market, Dillon’s, Fred Meyer, Frys, King Soopers, Ralph’s,
Smith’s, Quality Food Center – QFC)
10. Costco
11. Aldi
12. A&P (Food Emporium, Pathmark, Super Fresh, Waldbaum’s)
13. Supervalu (Acme, Albertson’s, Bristol Farms, Jewel-Osco, Save-A-Lot, Shaw’s)
14. Giant Eagle
15. Publix
16. Winn-Dixie
17. Trader Joes
18. Meijer
19. Price Chopper
20. H.E. Butt (H.E.B., Central Market)

To help ensure the long-term sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems, Greenpeace advocates the creation of a worldwide network of marine reserves and fisheries management based on a precautionary, ecosystem-based approach. Today, supermarkets can help the oceans and meet consumer demand for sustainable products by refusing to sell seafood from fisheries that:

exploit endangered, vulnerable and/or protected species, or species with poor stock status;
cause habitat destruction and/or lead to ecosystem alterations;
cause negative impacts on other, non-target species;
are unregulated, unreported, illegal or managed poorly, and
cause negative impacts on local, fishing dependent communities.

Photo: Mike Johnston Flickr Creative Commons