Kudos to trader Joe’s for posting this up in the dairy section of their store  (photo taken at the Trader Joe’s on Ontario St. in Chicago):

I’ve written before about the need for access to information about environmental impact and sustainability at the point of purchase, and this is a great example of a company that puts this very valuable information right out in the open.

I like how TJ’s is not hiding behind vague and misleading terms such as “all-natural.” Ambiguity leaves the conscious consumer unsure as to whether the food is organic or not, and whether the chickens which laid them had access to the outdoors or just had a glimpse of the outdoors from inside the barn in which they were cooped up. Ultimately, a company benefits from a consumer-base which is fully educated in their decision making, and chooses to come back to a particular store because items are clearly labeled, obviating the need for any guesswork (or guilt) associated with the origins of their food.

Ideally, we’d all live in a place where adjectives such as “organic” and “humanely raised” didn’t need to be called out as a special case, because all food was raised and processed in a manner which is kind to the animals and healthy to the humans who consume them. But we don’t.  So if eggs aren’t organic, or if beef doesn’t come from cows who freely roamed in pasture … then that’s fine… but the price should reflect the quality of the product. It’s all too common for corporations to greenwash consumers into spending money with marketing gimmicks which leverage the current eco zeitgiest.

I would hope that other companies follow  — and continue to push the boundaries — of this transparency exemplified by Trader Joe’s (and I’m sure they’re not the first to have done this). Eventually, I’d love to see a tag attached to each and every piece of produce or livestock that I eat which tells me where it came from, how far it travelled to get to my grocery store, what agricultural practices were used in raising/growing it, etc. To a limited extent, they have these for clothes already … why can’t they have it for food (it’d get stuck in your teeth, maybe?!?)?

Update 9/18/2008: Great article in the New York Times about egg labeling.

Related posts:

1. Egg Labeling Guide Based on New York Times Article
2. Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala Burger (Yum!)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 9:37 am and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.