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In this fourth edition of the scorecard, "Carting Away the Oceans," half of the 20 large retailers receive passing scores. Among the retailers ranking in the top half who do business in Southern California include #1 ranked Target, as well as Whole Foods (#3), Safeway (parent of Vons/Pavillions, #4), Wal-Mart (#9) and Trader Joe's (#10)
Trader Joe's was the focus of a seafood sustainability campaign run by Greenpeace over the past several months, in which they created a parody site, Traitor Joe, which successfully pressured the South Pasadena-based market chain to pledge to revamp their seafood practices. Previously, Trader Joe's had been the worst-ranking market.
Retailers familiar to SoCal shoppers who ranked below passing are Kroger (Ralphs, Food 4 Less; #13), Costco (#14) and Supervalu (Albertson's, Lucky; $15). Practices such as poor labeling, selling "red-list" seafood items, and lacking company policy regarding seafood sustainability are what placed market chains on the failing list.
As consumers, Greenpeace urges us to demand from our supermarkets that they adopt and implement sustainable seafood practices. Download the full scorecard and report from Greenpeace and learn more about each company and what consumers can do.
Fentanyl and other drugs fuel record deaths among people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County. From 2019 to 2021, deaths jumped 70% to more than 2,200 in a single year.
