Green Mama Activism: Seafood Greenwashing at Trader Joe's

I've got to admit anytime I am in an urban area I am pulled to Trader Joe's like a moth to flame. All those great organic and natural products, such a tasty variety, and much lower prices than my small town's independent co-op.

But then I received this in my email inbox and was quite surprised. Turns out, Trader Joe sells unsafe fish harvested by unsustainable practices, all of which are not labeled, or communicated to customers at all. According to Greenpeace, in some stores there are even signs promoting their healthy and safe fish, when in fact most of the seafood they sell is neither.

Trader Joe came in at the bottom of grocery store chains for selling unsafe fish for consumers. And the fish are not safe for the environment, because we have no idea how it is harvested. According to Greenpeace,

"Sustainable Seafood Policy: Trader Joe’s
does not have a sustainable seafood policy.

Seafood Sustainability Initiatives: Trader
Joe’s is not affiliated with retailer groups, fishing
industry groups, seafood companies, third-party
auditors, or environmental conservation organizations
working on seafood sustainability.

Labeling & Transparency: Trader Joe’s does
not label seafood products so consumers can avoid
purchasing destructively fished species, and does not
promote sustainable seafood to customers. To make
matters worse, certain stores advertise that Trader Joe’s
seafood is sustainable (blatant misinformation when one
considers the actual seafood being sold). Beyond seafood
labeling required by law, Trader Joe’s only provides
its customers with information on mercury in seafood.

Red List Seafood Sales: Greenpeace surveys
found Trader Joe’s sells 15 of the 22 red list seafoods:
Alaskan pollock, Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon,
Atlantic sea scallops, Chilean sea bass, Greenland
halibut, monkfish, ocean quahog, orange roughy,
red snapper, redfish, South Atlantic albacore tuna,
swordfish, tropical shrimp and yellowfin tuna."

Fish are red listed for reasons that include habitat impacts, fishing community impacts, destructive fishing methods, stock status, poor fishery management, pirate fishing, among other environmental concerns. Read this to learn more about the red list of fish.

I was very surprised to learn this about Trader Joe's. Hopefully with emails from concerned citizens, they will develop a sustainable seafood plan, and clearly communicate with the customers. Until then, shop for seafood where you know you won't be damaging oceans, or your body, and send along an email.

Autism and Toxic Chemicals

Here is a very interesting article from Dr. Harvey Karp about the rise of endocrine disrupting chemicals and the rates of autism. New links are showing up about about the cocktail of chemicals we are exposed to, and how many of them are hormone disrupting, causing multiple health problems in developing children, including potentially autism. These chemicals mimic estrogen in the body, which usually means feminization, but the opposite affect takes place in children, where more masculine traits (in the extreme) are developed, where they wouldn't normally be.

This is the only theory about autism that actually takes into account the larger number of males that are diagnosed with autism. This "extreme male theory" (which explains a lack of social skills and language development) is associated with autism.

What are endocrine disrupting chemicals? You've heard about them: BPA, pthalates, flame retardants, and a host of other chemicals that are in all of our homes and everyday products. The article discusses that the rates of these chemicals in women of childbearing age are very high, and the damage from them takes place as the fetus is developing. And they have been linked to very troubling medical concerns (from the article): "Multiple animal and human studies have linked EDC exposure (during or after fetal development) with a host of hormone-related disorders, like low sperm count, cancer (breast, ovarian, prostate, testicular), congenital malformation of the genitals and even obesity."

I learned that a new study will begin looking closely at this link (which is behind due to a lack of funding and commitment from the Bush administration, just another way we stepped backwards during those 8 years), and the author suggests several other needed studies as well.

Chemicals in everyday products are largely unregulated and needs the regulatory system (or lack thereof) needs a complete overhaul to protect our families. Maybe now that these is a possible link between the chemical stew we are exposed to and autism, we will see more action on this.

8 Tips for Green(er) Road Trips with Kids

I am about to embark on an east coast odyssey, of sorts. I am taking my 2 and 4 year old girls from northern New England to the greater Washington D.C. area. By myself.

Yep, 10-12 hours on the road with two energetic, vocal, independent minded and sometimes surly (and whiny) little people strapped in. Wish me luck.

It really can't be worse than the time my youngest decided to go on a 20 hour nursing strike while on this very same drive (any nursing mother can imagine the suffering--), can it?

In any case, I am packing today and thinking about how to green up road trips. Here are some of the ideas I came up with that might be helpful if you too are taking a road trip this summer, and want to be a little more green than in your younger (and more wasteful) days.

Organic is Not the Answer (by itself!)

I'm a sucker for anything organic. Even those organic, crunchy snacks that remind me of cheese doodles. Part of me feels justified in eating these, because they are organic, of course, how can they be bad?

When I am thinking clearly, not in the grocery store at 5pm with two hungry kids, I see plainly that junk food is junk food. The New York times ran an interesting story that too many Americans are seeing organic food as the solution and are not looking at the big picture. We want buying organic to be the answer. We want it to help us eat healthier. We want it to solve the obesity problem. Eating organic food is in most cases better for the earth and for us, but the truth that the article states is:

"most Americans eat so badly — we get 7 percent of our calories from soft drinks, more than we do from vegetables; the top food group by caloric intake is “sweets”; and one-third of nation’s adults are now obese — that the organic question is a secondary one. It’s not unimportant, but it’s not the primary issue in the way Americans eat."

What is our problem? Too much processed food, be it canned Annie's Ravioli or canned Spaghettios--frozen organic or Hungry Man dinners. The question becomes not if it is organic, but if it is processed or packaged. I fall prey to this constantly. I work full time, don't really love to cook, and want organic, healthy food. So what do we do?

"To eat well, says Michael Pollan, the author of “In Defense of Food,” means avoiding “edible food-like substances” and sticking to real ingredients, increasingly from the plant kingdom. (Americans each consume an average of nearly two pounds a day of animal products.) There’s plenty of evidence that both a person’s health — as well as the environment’s — will improve with a simple shift in eating habits away from animal products and highly processed foods to plant products and what might be called “real food.” (With all due respect to people in the “food movement,” the food need not be “slow,” either.)"

And this would have dramatic environmental impacts, too, as the article points out. Eating lower on the found chain would lessen heart disease, and impacts to land and water. Not to mention limiting the chemical exposures as well. So, when thinking about healthy eating, I need to remember this. I try to buy all organic fruits and produce-- but then I actually have to eat and cook with them, which many Americans just aren't doing. Steering clear of the frozen and canned organic foods that call to me-- "no cooking! look, we are organic, we must be healthy!" from the nice hardwood section of our grocery store.

I've been duped; I've eaten too many organic snacks from a crinkly bag. This post from the New York Times simply reminds me that anything in a crinkly bag (including organic!) is simply highly processed food---over packaged and unhealthy.

This post is part of the Green Mom's Carnival called Food Matters. Check out all the posts about how you can grow, cook and eat more healthy, local, and safe food.

(originally posted on Eco-Child's Play)

image: woodchips - now organic! by bookgrl on Flickr under Creative Commons

Too Much "Good Job!" May be Harmful

While researching for my teacher attrition book (now thankfully off my desk for the time being!), I came across this article by Alfie Kohn. I could almost hear my voice, ringing with "good job!" to my daughters, as I read it.

It discusses how too much praise can actually harm our children, and do the opposite of what we intend. The value and judgement in saying "good job" repeatedly apparently raises kids who are more likely to seek out approval for everything, and not do something good for the sake of doing it, or for the benefit of someone else's feelings. We end up raising kids who constantly look for external forms of approval.

Yikes! I've been saying good job for a long, long time. Like when my first daughter learned to clap, and roll over, to now, when she forms a letter. He suggests what to do instead, which are not value statements, but ways to connect with and notice successes.

Here are a few of his suggestions, but I really encourage you to read the whole article, it is quite eye opening.

"* Say nothing. Some people insist a helpful act must be "reinforced" because, secretly or unconsciously, they believe it was a fluke. If children are basically evil, then they have to be given an artificial reason for being nice (namely, to get a verbal reward). But if that cynicism is unfounded – and a lot of research suggests that it is – then praise may not be necessary.

* Say what you saw. A simple, evaluation-free statement ("You put your shoes on by yourself" or even just "You did it") tells your child that you noticed. It also lets her take pride in what she did. In other cases, a more elaborate description may make sense. If your child draws a picture, you might provide feedback – not judgment – about what you noticed: "This mountain is huge!" "Boy, you sure used a lot of purple today!"

If a child does something caring or generous, you might gently draw his attention to the effect of his action on the other person: "Look at Abigail’s face! She seems pretty happy now that you gave her some of your snack." This is completely different from praise, where the emphasis is on how you feel about her sharing.

* Talk less, ask more. Even better than descriptions are questions. Why tell him what part of his drawing impressed you when you can ask him what he likes best about it? Asking "What was the hardest part to draw?" or "How did you figure out how to make the feet the right size?" is likely to nourish his interest in drawing. Saying "Good job!", as we’ve seen, may have exactly the opposite effect."

I know I will be purchasing his book, Unconditional Parenting which also questions the use of time out (immediately I then think, what will we do??). What do you readers think of praise? Do you dole out "good jobs" like snacks to a toddler (like me)?