University canteens appear among the main customers of foodservice firms. (Photo: Widener University)

Foodservice companies fail to offer sustainable seafood, Greenpeace states

UNITED STATES
Thursday, August 25, 2016, 02:50 (GMT + 9)

A Greenpeace report denounces that some of the largest US foodservice companies are failing to provide consumers with seafood that meets basic standards for sustainability and social responsibility.

To issue this report, called Sea of Distress, the NGO campaigners investigated 15 companies and determined that only Sodexo, Compass Group, and Aramark received low passing scores, indicating there is much room for improvement.

“Many foodservice companies have avoided accountability for the seafood they sell for far too long,” said Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner David Pinsky.

“These companies feed millions of people in university cafeterias, corporate dining halls, restaurants, and hospitals, yet consumers are kept in the dark about whether their seafood is sustainable and ethical. It’s time to shine a light on these companies and demand action,” pointed out Pinsky.

The foodservice industry accounts for nearly half of all food-dollar spending outside of the home every day, supplying clients like Disney World, George Washington University, Walmart, Subway, and the U.S. Congress.

In its first assessment of foodservice companies, Greenpeace evaluated both broadline distributors and management companies on policy, responsible sourcing, advocacy, traceability and transparency, and inventory.

The report has also shown that the U.S. foodservice industry as a whole has failed on traceability, incentivizes consumption with discount programs for bulk purchasing without regard for environmental or social impacts, and has prevented smaller companies from securing better products through large companies like Sysco and US Foods.

It stresses that across the board, the industry is failing to address potential human rights abuses in seafood supply chains abroad, and must improve its treatment of U.S. workers, including actions such as paying employees a living wage.

“It’s particularly disappointing that two of the largest foodservice companies, Sysco and US Foods, continue to provide destructively caught seafood to foodservice operators nationwide,” claimed Pinsky.

Greenpeace campaigners argue that in the largest canned tuna market in the world, most U.S. foodservice companies are procuring destructive and potentially unethical canned tuna for consumers.

These environmentalists point out that Thai Union, the world’s largest canned tuna company and owner of Chicken of the Sea in the US, supplies companies including Sysco, Compass Group, Gordon Food Service, and Shamrock Foods.

They recall that Thai Union has faced continued pressure for its destructive fishing methods and connections to human rights abuses in several supply chains.

The report concludes that all must work to improve seafood traceability, protect workers’ rights abroad and in the U.S., and ensure any canned tuna they provide is sustainable and ethical. 

editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media

Print