ABSTRACT
The fi rst national grocery chain to embrace a program to measure the environmental impact of its wild-caught seafood is Whole Foods Market, which recently teamed with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute to create a color-coded seafood rating system. All seafood in Whole Foods stores is rated on the primary environmental factors affecting it: fi shing methods and concerns about over-fi shing of the species. Ratings include green, yellow and red, with green-rated seafood considered sustainable, a yellow rating indicating concerns exist about the species’ status or catch methods, and red being given to fi sh that are caught in a way that is harmful to other wildlife or that are overfi shed. Whole Foods is using this color-coded, fi rst party endorsement system in conjunction with its third party Marine Stewardship Council certifi cation program, which certifi es wild-caught seafood as sustainable.
