An impromptu trip to Tesco

Yesterday our group had planned to interview one of the managers at Spink's the fishmonger, located in the centre of Dundee.

However, when we arrived we were informed that the person we were going to chat to was pretty busy and that we should go back on Thursday morning when he had more time - which is fair enough. Although the interview didn't go ahead as we had hoped for it was nice to experience the shop and to get a sense of what a traditional fishmonger's is like.

So, after this slight disappointment we decided to have a little trip to Tesco to see what a fish counter in a supermarket was like and what sort of offerings they provided.

Observations of an Impromptu trip to Tesco

On arrival it was fairly obvious what atmosphere Tesco were attempting to recreate. The look and feel of the fish stall in Tesco is very similar to that of a more traditional fishmonger apart from the fact that it was situated firmly within a huge supermarket selling a whole host of other products from Televisions to Dragon fruit.

There was also a poster behind the stall that said "help your fishmonger", but we were not quite sure how buying your fish from a supermarket would achieve this?

Michael (America) approached the woman attending the stall and started to have a general conversation with her, asking about where the fish was sourced. Although she was very friendly and made an attempt to answer his questions we were given the impression that she was pretty ill informed about where the fish actually came from.

We did a little bit more observing and noticed that each of the fish on the stall had a little bit of information posted next to it - Michael (America) has images. As well as this we found a leaflet entitled "Tesco, Freedom Food." which gave some more information on Tesco's attitudes towards the issue. This information included location and sometimes the way in which the fish was sourced.

Nevertheless, this apparently helpful information actually raised more questions for us as a group interested in sustainability. The information included statements such as "Farmed", "Grown" & "Responsibly Sourced" although from some of our desk research we have been led to believe that "Farmed" fish is often an unsustainable method of fish - for lack of a better word - production. Therefore how can it be a responsible method?

We also noted that the fish seems to be sourced from numerous locations around the globe e.g. Scotland, Norway, The Atlantic Ocean (Bit vague) and even Vietnam. Is this sustainable? Think of the food miles a fish from Vietnam would rack up.

The "Tesco, Freedom Food" leaflet also gave examples of how Tesco is interested in the welfare of its fish and that the Salmon is farmed in Shetland adhering to the Animal Welfare standards set out by the RSPCA - These standards aim to reduce the stress of the fish and also maintain its good health.

From our initial research Tesco claims to source their products in a manner that is of minimal impact to the environment. However, the question must be asked, what does "minimal impact to the environment" look like?

We look forward to going back to Spink's on Thursday to get a different perspective on fish selling and sourcing.