Greenpeace’s new report on so-called sustainable seafood has just been released and every single supermarket in Canada received a failing grade. Not because fish isn’t essential to a complete and healthy diet. (It is.) Greenpeace flunked every grocery retailer for selling “unsustainable” fish because the group, whose own co-founder has called it “a band of scientific illiterates,” wants to minimize the consumption of all seafood.
Nevermind that most of the seafood that Greenpeace wants off the shelves is in no danger of extinction whatsoever. Pollock, a white fish that is the main component in most supermarket fish sticks, is doing just fine, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. But if Greenpeace’s wishes were granted, pollock — along with more than 50 percent of all seafood sold in United States supermarkets — would be “off limits.”
Greenpeace apparently believes that no supermarket company anywhere in North America is selling seafood responsibly. In a similar U.S. report card last year, even Whole Foods – the yuppie mecca of organic produce and “fair trade” chutney – only scored 4 points out of a possible 10. Does anyone really believe that every grocery store on our continent is conspiring to wipe out fish stocks across the globe?
It’s one thing to try and control what we eat when there’s a scientific basis for it, but that’s clearly not the case here. The health benefits of a seafood-rich diet are uncontested by the (non-PETA-controlled) medical community. Pregnant moms need omega-3 fatty acids during critical stages of their babies’ growth in utero. The same nutrients that Greenpeace and other fearmongers are trying to scare them away from. When will enough be enough?
