Not offical Chill-On blog

On the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s preliminary approval of genetically modified salmon, nearly 600 retailers say they will take part in a new anti-GMO campaign.

The inaugural “National Non-GMO Month,” sponsored by the Non-GMO Project of Upland, Calif., will be held in October, which happens to coincide with National Seafood Month. Meanwhile, Alaska Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) this week called GM salmon “Frankenfish” and the FDA’s potential approval of AquaBounty Technologies’ GM salmon “risky and a threat to the survival of wild species.’

Around 580 natural and independent food stores, including Whole Foods Market, will draw consumers’ attention to the non-GMO products that they carry, as well as educate them about the GMO issue. According to the Non-GMO Project, studies show a correlation between the consumption of GMOs and health risks.

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The World Wildlife Fund expressed concern on Friday over the intentions of retailers in Germany, the United States and Canada to drop all Atlantic cod products because of sustainability questions.

While the environmental group admits some Atlantic cod fisheries have room for improvement, the group is urging retailers to not reject cod purchases from the Barents Sea, a fishery that is described by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) as harvested sustainably, and one that has obtained Marine Stewardship Council certification for sound management. WWF claims that dropping Barents Sea contradicts retails’ commitments to sell sustainable seafood.

“Science confirms that Barents Sea cod is being harvested sustainably, therefore it’s excessively heavy-handed and unnecessary to de-list this fishery from supermarket shelves,” said Alfred Schumm, leader of WWF’s Smart Fishing Initiative. “The MSC certified Barents Sea cod is undoubtedly one of the best options at the fish counter.”

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Schnuck Markets here has implemented “some massive improvements” in its food safety efforts, including a wide-ranging training program, said Dianna Pasley, the chain’s director of food safety and chair of the Food Marketing Institute’s Food Protection Committee, during an SN-hosted webinar yesterday.

Food safety training has been implemented for everyone “from our CEO to our warehouse folks down to the store level, even our porters,” she said.

via supermarketnews.com

As a sustainable-food aficionado, my attitude toward Whole Foods and other national chains offering organic food changes based on the available alternatives.

When I can buy directly from local farmers and food artisans, I avoid places like Whole Foods. However, when I am on the road and my next best option is Subway, I look to Whole Foods as an oasis.

After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma’s harsh account of Whole Foods and its suppliers (Michael Pollan traces some of the food sold at Whole Foods back to its suppliers, and what he discovers is not necessarily the “supermarket pastoral” that the company promises) and then seeing Pollan debate Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, I decided to get to the bottom of the matter by taking a job in the bakery at a Whole Foods in San Diego. My goal was to answer the following question: Was Whole Food truly sustainable, or was it just a high-priced version of the same food one could find in a conventional supermarket?

via alternet.org

Supermarket giant Tesco has become the first UK retailer to display the full carbon footprint of milk — one of the top-selling products in its stores.

From today, all Tesco own-label full-fat, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk ranges will display the carbon footprint label as part of an on-going drive to help shoppers make “green” purchasing decisions. It has pledged to “footprint” 500 products by the end of the year. The new labelling will not apply to organic milk, where greenhouse gas emissions are generally much lower than for conventional milk.

via Guardian.co.uk