Sustainable Food Commitments: A Fresh start

As our food business continues to grow with our Fresh produce department, it is vital to form clear direction regarding sustainable food practices in the sourcing of our products.

We made major headway in 2010 with the launch of a Sustainable Seafood Policy in March followed by the introduction of new Sustainable Agriculture Commitments in October.

Fish Stories

Behind every policy lies a detailed process. Through 2009, our sustainable seafood team educated itself by meeting with key stakeholders like the Marine Stewardship Council, the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and the Global Aquaculture Alliance. They also studied the sustainable seafood policies of Walmart U.S. and other competing retailers.

The team was mindful to align our policy with those of the other retailers to make it easier for vendors to comply effectively. In March, the team invited all our sustainable seafood vendors to home office to present them with the following final policy:

The Walmart Canada Sustainable Seafood Policy

Overfishing is threatening the availability of fresh fish and seafood for future generations, therefore we are committing to providing our customers with quality seafood that is harvested in a sustainable manner.

Sustainable seafood goals:

  • To source wild-caught fresh and fish certified to the Marine Stewardship Council standard, or minimum equivalent, by 2013
  • To ensure that our farm-raised fish vendor-partners adhere to Best Aquaculture Practices, or minimum equivalent, by 2013
  • Global Aquaculture Alliance, Aquaculture Certification Council, etc
  • To source all canned tuna from an International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) member by 2013

Our plan:

We have a significant plan to support and reach our stated goals, which include:

Assessing our current seafood assortment:

  • We will continue to source seafood from sustainable sources where we are already doing so
  • We will work to find new suppliers of sustainable seafood
  • We will work with suppliers which are willing to improve the environmental performance of their operations
  • We will de-list fish products and suppliers which refuse to improve the environmental performance of their operations

Working with vendor-partners to improve seafood product labelling:

  • Working with our vendor-partners to ensure they are sourcing environmentally responsible seafood
  • Working with various environmental non-governmental organization stakeholders to ensure our actions have a positive impact on the sustainability of seafood around the world
  • Connecting with our retail associations in Canada to determine if the retailer community can affect positive change together given their size and importance to the Canadian seafood industry
  • Educating our associates and customers about our sustainable seafood policy
  • Not procuring seafood caught from illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) sources; nor knowingly sourcing seafood from ships currently on any official IUU vessel list
  • We currently do not, and will continue to not source Atlantic bluefin tuna

What we encourage:

  • Our seafood vendor-partners to support and participate in the Aquaculture Dialogues
  • Our seafood vendor-partners to require sustainable practices of their suppliers – all throughout the chain of custody down to the original fish harvest
  • Our canned tuna vendor-partners to join the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and to support their mission (to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing by-catch and promoting ecosystem health)
  • Full transparency of all seafood products within the seafood industry and full traceability from point of catch to the consumer
  • The cessation of the over-fishing of any and all world-wide fish stocks deemed to be in peril; specifically we encourage policy-makers to improve and develop laws and regulations that support the improvement of fisheries and aquaculture management and enforcement

We will regularly review our Sustainable Seafood Commitment, and update as needed, to ensure its relevancy.

New goals for sustainable agriculture

We also introduced four sustainable agricultural goals which underscore our intent to source more fresh local produce when in season.