Most everyone knows of the dangers that lie in non-organic poultry and beef. The hormones, antibiotics, and toxins generated by horrible living conditions make it easy to choose organic meats.
But what about fish?
Most of us buy farm-raised fish without even realizing that it carries health threats similar to non-organic beef or poultry. One example is that farm-raised salmon isn't really that delicious pink color you're used to seeing in wild caught salmon...it's added coloring. Yummy.
Whole Foods Market is hoping to help you make better decisions when it comes to your fish selection. GreenBiz.com says,
A new project launched today by natural foods chain Whole Foods, in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute, will put a green, yellow or red sticker on all of its wild-caught seafood indicating how sustainable are the supplies and fishing methods for each fish stocked in the cooler.
Green stickers mean the fish for sale is a relatively abundant species and is caught in ways that are environmentally friendly and able to keep the stock of those fish plentify. Yellow stickers mean there are still some concerns with how plentiful the fish stocks are, as well as with methods used to catch them. Red stickers mean that the fish is currently suffering from overfishing or that current fishing methods are harming other marine species or habitats.
As part of the kickoff of the labels, Whole Foods says it plans to phase out any red-labeled fish species by Earth Day 2013, while setting incremental benchmarks for phasing out red-labeled species by Earth Days in 2012 and 2011.
When legislation is on the table to allow genetically engineered salmon to swin onto our plates as early as next year, it's nice to see a few big name companies take a stand in both the sustainability and health concerns of a diet that includes seafood.
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