Posts Tagged ‘whole foods’
Nearly 600 retailers join anti-GMO campaign
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.
Whole Foods to stop selling over-fished seafood
Whole Foods Market Inc. is phasing out seafood considered over-fished or unsustainably-caught.
Austin-based Whole Foods (Nasdaq: WFMI) operates a store in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood and plans to open its second in the region in the North Hills in 2011. The new seafood strategy is part of the grocer’s efforts to better inform customers about fish and shellfish sources. In partnership with the Blue Ocean Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium, the company has adopted an in-store, color-coded sustainability rating system for wild-caught seafood. Whole Foods has also committed to phasing out all red-rated species by Earth Day 2013, including swordfish, Atlantic cod, sole and tuna, among others.
Seafood color-coded green, or “best choice,” indicates the fish is part of an abundant population and is fished in an environmentally-friendly way. A yellow-coded offering means a “good alternative,” or having some concerns about population or fishing methods. The red, “avoid” category signals the species is suffering from overfishing, or that current fishing methods harm other marine life or habitats.
Read more: Whole Foods to stop selling over-fished seafood – Pittsburgh Business Times
Is Whole Foods Sustainable or Just a High-Priced Hoax?
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