My friend BB sent me this great news: Trader Joe’s backs off Chinese goods.

You may recall my annoyance at Trader Joe’s for quietly selling a number of organic vegetables (fresh and frozen edamame, frozen spinach, garlic)  grown in China and seeming not to care about workers’ rights or environmental and health concerns. Apparently enough people complained for them to stop selling the products, at least single-ingredient Chinese products like I described above.

I don’t actually think this is an example of a formal boycott at work, but I would guess that with declining sales and increasing customer complaints, this was a wise business decision, and an example of a business responding to the demands of the market.  If I were Stephen Colbert, I would take full credit for this, and then return to shopping there. However, you may also recall how Trader Joe’s is the most crowded place in Southern California, and I’m still not sure I can shop there without mental health damage.

Yes, another weighty ethical moment in the hopes and dreams of the middle class.