Jan 27 2010 - 3:00pm At the beginning of the month, I swore that the sustainable seafood trend would explode in 2010. Now it's already going mainstream. Earlier this week, Target announced its plan to stop selling farmed salmon in all of its stores.
That's awesome, you think that the only thing corporations care about is making money and then they surprise you and do something good for the environment. I, too, hope that all businesses
follow in their footsteps. I love Target!
This is awesome! I've been trying to be more mindful about where the food I eat actually comes from. Things like eating grass fed, antibiotic beef, wild salmon, free range chicken and eggs
etc. When enough poeple do this, it affects bigger companies bottom line and they follow suite by selling things that we want to buy! Talk about power of the consumer! I can only hope that
bigger food suppliers like Costco and the like follow this trend as much as possible. I used to save big bucks by buying frozen chicken and salmon there but won't do that anymore - if they
offered frozen wild salmon, organic antibiotic free frozen chicken, etc, I might go back and save money to boot!
imLissy, me too! Part of me wondered lately if this was also a good way for Target to market the fact that it sells salmon at all in the first place. Now everyone will be flocking to Tar-jay
for salmon!
BTW, the most sustainable Salmon is Scottish Salmon, the owner of a sustainable restaurant told me this. He orders his Salmon seasonally from Scotland (I'm in California). The Queen of
England eats it, so you know it's good.
When Greenpeace applauded Target for taking farmed salmon off store shelves, what Greenpeace didn't say is that it was paid $300,000 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
U.S. tax returns and the foundation's on-line database show that since 2000 the David and Lucile Packard foundation has granted more than $60 million to support the Marine Stewardship Council
(MSC) and promote MSC-certified fish - most of which is Alaskan. This included $12.7 Million to get Wal-mart and other large U.S. retailers to preferentially sell MSC-certified fish and at
least $12.4 Million to "reform" fish farming (read: thwart the competition).
Facing stiff competition from farmed salmon, the value of Alaskan wild fish lost 75 percent of its value over the 1990s. Alaskan fishermen not only lost their prime markets, they nearly lost
their cherished way of life. Since 2002 and the bad press over farmed salmon, consumers and restaurants have been swayed back to "wild" salmon. The ex-vessel value of Alaskan salmon has
tripled from $125 million to $409 million in 2008.
Taking farmed salmon off of store shelves is wrong for three reasons:
1) Salmon farming avoids some of the worst risks to wild salmon: over-fishing, ghost nets, by-catch, and the strain of Alaska's ocean-ranching of billions of hatchery-born salmon on the food
chain and the carrying capacity of the Pacific ecosystem. Unfortunately, its too cold for salmon farming in most of Alaska.
2) Farmed salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, according to a report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine, farmed salmon is higher in omega-3 fatty acids than any
other commonly-eaten fish and lower in mercury than almost all other fish. Harvard scientists estimate that eating fish weekly reduces the risk of a fatal heart attack by one third. The
American Heart Association estimates that cardiovascular disease kills 2,400 Americans every day and cost $409 BILLION in 2009.
3) Fish farming provides sorely needed jobs in rural communities. In contrast, commercial fishing is seasonal. Canadian tax-payers spend about $30 Million per year on employment insurance for
commercial fishermen in British Columbia alone.
So, who benefits from the campaign against farmed salmon?
When it comes to salmon, Alaska believes its got the real thing. The fuss over farmed vs. "wild" salmon is as much about marketing as Pepsi vs. Coke.
Protecting a livelihood and a cultural heritage is a noble pursuit, but thwarting the competition in the name of sustainability is not the way to go about it. In today's tough times, there
are far better ways for American foundations to use wealth and tax-free privileges.
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That's awesome, you think that the only thing corporations care about is making money and then they surprise you and do something good for the environment. I, too, hope that all businesses follow in their footsteps. I love Target!
1This is awesome! I've been trying to be more mindful about where the food I eat actually comes from. Things like eating grass fed, antibiotic beef, wild salmon, free range chicken and eggs etc. When enough poeple do this, it affects bigger companies bottom line and they follow suite by selling things that we want to buy! Talk about power of the consumer! I can only hope that bigger food suppliers like Costco and the like follow this trend as much as possible. I used to save big bucks by buying frozen chicken and salmon there but won't do that anymore - if they offered frozen wild salmon, organic antibiotic free frozen chicken, etc, I might go back and save money to boot!
2I'm surprised Target sells salmon
3imLissy, me too! Part of me wondered lately if this was also a good way for Target to market the fact that it sells salmon at all in the first place. Now everyone will be flocking to Tar-jay for salmon!
4I love salmon, so good for Target!
5Very happy to her this about Target. It make me happy that this company care for the environment.
6Target makes sushi? Baffling.
7BTW, the most sustainable Salmon is Scottish Salmon, the owner of a sustainable restaurant told me this. He orders his Salmon seasonally from Scotland (I'm in California). The Queen of England eats it, so you know it's good.
8When Greenpeace applauded Target for taking farmed salmon off store shelves, what Greenpeace didn't say is that it was paid $300,000 by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
U.S. tax returns and the foundation's on-line database show that since 2000 the David and Lucile Packard foundation has granted more than $60 million to support the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and promote MSC-certified fish - most of which is Alaskan. This included $12.7 Million to get Wal-mart and other large U.S. retailers to preferentially sell MSC-certified fish and at least $12.4 Million to "reform" fish farming (read: thwart the competition).
Facing stiff competition from farmed salmon, the value of Alaskan wild fish lost 75 percent of its value over the 1990s. Alaskan fishermen not only lost their prime markets, they nearly lost their cherished way of life. Since 2002 and the bad press over farmed salmon, consumers and restaurants have been swayed back to "wild" salmon. The ex-vessel value of Alaskan salmon has tripled from $125 million to $409 million in 2008.
Taking farmed salmon off of store shelves is wrong for three reasons:
1) Salmon farming avoids some of the worst risks to wild salmon: over-fishing, ghost nets, by-catch, and the strain of Alaska's ocean-ranching of billions of hatchery-born salmon on the food chain and the carrying capacity of the Pacific ecosystem. Unfortunately, its too cold for salmon farming in most of Alaska.
2) Farmed salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. In fact, according to a report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine, farmed salmon is higher in omega-3 fatty acids than any other commonly-eaten fish and lower in mercury than almost all other fish. Harvard scientists estimate that eating fish weekly reduces the risk of a fatal heart attack by one third. The American Heart Association estimates that cardiovascular disease kills 2,400 Americans every day and cost $409 BILLION in 2009.
3) Fish farming provides sorely needed jobs in rural communities. In contrast, commercial fishing is seasonal. Canadian tax-payers spend about $30 Million per year on employment insurance for commercial fishermen in British Columbia alone.
So, who benefits from the campaign against farmed salmon?
When it comes to salmon, Alaska believes its got the real thing. The fuss over farmed vs. "wild" salmon is as much about marketing as Pepsi vs. Coke.
Protecting a livelihood and a cultural heritage is a noble pursuit, but thwarting the competition in the name of sustainability is not the way to go about it. In today's tough times, there are far better ways for American foundations to use wealth and tax-free privileges.
More info: http://fairquestions.typepad.com/fishfarmfuss/2010/01/greenpeace-marketi...
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Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.