Why I Went to Safeway for My Birthday: Supermarket Makes Huge Announcement

In my little world, celebrations and holidays just aren't complete without copious amounts of food. My birthday is no exception -- I look forward to it every year as an excuse to throw caution (and perhaps responsibility) to the wind and indulge myself. I like to get together with loved ones and either cook up a feast or dine at some up-and-coming restaurant I've been salivating over for months.

I'm a big fan of moderation -- staying away from critically endangered delicacies like bluefin tuna, not eating sushi four times a week, and all that -- and I stand by it. But there's a time and a place for celebration, and that's important too. Not that I would eat bluefin tuna even for a holiday banquet, but I just might gorge myself a little bit (or a lot) on some sort of sustainable delight and fall asleep on the couch. My birthday is not a good day to be a crawfish, believe me.

Anyhow, my 32nd rolled around last week, and as per my usual routine, I decided to celebrate with a feel-good dinner. This time, though, I went about things in a slightly different way.

This year, I went to Safeway for my birthday.

I know that sounds like an odd place to celebrate, but I felt it was important to pay Safeway a visit. See, the company had just done something very special -- something that deserved celebration far more than my surviving another trip around the sun. By a fun coincidence, both events happened to occur on the same day.

On April 7, 2011, Safeway went public with a commitment to avoid purchasing seafood from the imperiled Ross Sea -- the world's last remaining relatively pristine ocean ecosystem. The company then took a second step by publicly encouraging all countries involved in Antarctic fishery governance (this takes place under the aegis of a management authority known as the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine and Living Resources, abbreviated CCAMLR and confusingly pronounced "cam-lar") to designate the Ross Sea a marine protected area.

This is huge.

Of all the major seafood retailers in the United States, only one other company -- Wegmans, a well-regarded and progressive grocery chain in the Northeastern United States -- has made such a statement in support of the Ross Sea. It's nearly unheard of for a retail operation to foray into the political sphere in the name of conservation. And Safeway, with the buying power of over 1,700 stores, is an extremely powerful voice -- just the kind of voice we need on the side of ocean conservation if we are to have any hope of protecting and resuscitating our ailing seas.

I admit to being a borderline fanatic when it comes to Ross Sea conservation, but it's of critical importance. Not only is it a unique and invaluable ecosystem for a myriad of reasons, both scientific and ecological, but sending fishing vessels to this far-flung area raises a host of red flags from a sustainability perspective. It goes beyond issues relating to discrete fishery management and into a larger philosophical realm, which is where the core battle for sustainability needs to be fought.

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I know I've said this before, but it merits repeating: Sustainable fishing simply cannot occur when the fishery in question exists only as a reaction to an out-of-balance food system. We have depleted the fish closer to our homes and cities, so we sail ever outward in search of more -- but there is a limit. The Earth is finite. Industrial fishing in the Ross Sea -- or anywhere so far from human habitation and so close to the "end of the world," as it were -- must end if we are to develop a balanced and healthy relationship with our food and our planet.

So, here's to you, Safeway. Your public commitment to this key initiative was one of the reasons you took the top spot in Greenpeace's most recent seafood retailer ranking, and I salute you for your drive and courage. The Ross Sea -- and the entire ecosystem that depends on it, including migratory whales, krill blooms, and countless other animals -- is a little closer to safety because of you.

Thanks for standing up for the planet, and thanks for such a nice birthday present.