Albert Heijn wants to print the CO2 footprint of your groceries on the receipt; isn’t that a bit hypocritical?
Albert Heijn is increasingly starting to show paternalistic tendencies: first, it launched the FoodFirst Lifestyle Coach to help us make conscious choices (while still selling cigarettes in the meantime..), and now the supermarket wants to influence our behavior by pointing out the climate score of our purchases. Yet it still sells apples from New Zealand. Isn’t that a bit hypocritical, Albert Heijn?
Blueberries from South Africa, broccoli from Kenya… one grocery trip to Albert Heijn and you’ve practically completed a round-the-world journey. And now the supermarket giant wants to point out its customers’ CO2 consumption? Am I the only one who finds this hypocritical? Albert Heijn wants to educate its customers while simultaneously flying fruit and vegetables in from all over the world to stock its stores… I could name a few more examples.
Mandatory label
CEO Marit van Egmond thinks it’s a great idea, at least. She believes supermarkets should have a mandatory climate label, as she explained on Geld of je Leven. Marit’s idea: this would allow people to see their own climate impact while doing their groceries. She hopes this will influence our purchasing behavior—that we’ll make more sustainable choices while shopping.
Huh? Isn’t Albert Heijn the one putting those products from far away on the shelves? Isn’t that a bit of a topsy-turvy world? Then offer only seasonal products from the Netherlands or nearby. Such as potatoes from the Netherlands (do you remember angry potato farmer Astrid?) Why should there be New Zealand apples on the shelves when huge quantities of apples are also grown here?
Putting on a show with a sustainability label
A mandatory climate label or sustainability label on products also sounds like nothing more than polished marketing to me. All the more so because many supermarket products deliberately contain misleading information. We’re misled every day when we do our groceries. Unclear Nutri-Scores, bait ingredients, adding vitamins to make an unhealthy product look healthy, artificial flavorings instead of natural flavor enhancers, putting ‘Rich in fiber’ in large letters on sugar, salt and fat bombs… You trip over examples of it in the supermarket.
Dutch farmer
My tip to Albert Heijn: mind your own business and source fruit and vegetables—as much as possible, especially now—from Dutch farmers. They could really use your support.
Source: blckbx.tv, image, Albert Heijn | Yasmin Hargreaves
