Since the MPC approval, the city of Savannah acted quickly to do what it needed to do to keep the plans on track.

The presence of Whole Foods will be a boon for Savannah in many ways. One of the less obvious ways will be the fact that Whole Foods finds itself routinely in the forefront of national discussions about sustainable farming and fishing practices. Increased public discussion of such issues is sure to be a good thing in the long run.

From A Ban on Some Seafood Has Fishermen Fuming:

Standing on the deck of his rusted steel trawler, Naz Sanfilippo fumed about the latest bad news for New England fishermen: a decision by Whole Foods to stop selling any seafood it does not consider sustainable.

Starting Sunday, gray sole and skate, common catches in the region, will no longer appear in the grocery chainâ€s artfully arranged fish cases. Atlantic cod, a New England staple, will be sold only if it is not caught by trawlers, which drag nets across the ocean floor, a much-used method here.

“Itâ€s totally maddening,” Mr. Sanfilippo said. “Theyâ€re just doing it to make all the green people happy.”

Whole Foods says that, in fact, it is doing its part to address the very real problem of overfishing and help badly depleted fish stocks recover. It is using ratings set by the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. They are based on factors including how abundant a species is, how quickly it reproduces and whether the catch method damages its habitat.

It’s a really interesting piece — one that spends an awful lot of time letting affected fishermen complain before turning to the company’s reasons for the move. The full effects:

The company had originally planned to stop selling “red-rated” fish next year but moved up its deadline. The other fish it will no longer carry are Atlantic halibut, octopus, sturgeon, tautog, turbot, imported wild shrimp, some species of rockfish, and tuna and swordfish caught in certain areas or by certain methods. (Whole Foods has already stopped selling orange roughy, shark, bluefin tuna and most marlin.)

So that seems like good news for local fishermen who are harvesting wild Georgia shrimp. One such company — Savannah-based Ambos Seafood — is already featured on the Whole Foods website.

My internet connection was spotty (Comcast) so I surely missed a few key moments. Please feel free to add comments that correct or amplify anything I say here.

A few quick reactions:

• I was surprised that the proposal for LNG trucking did not get more airing.
• I was surprised that neither candidate was quizzed about their stated support for dredging the Savannah River.
• Both candidates struck positive tones that emphasized community building and community process.
• Felser seemed clearer on specific policies and has a clearer command of important jargon, like “context sensitive desgin.”
• Jackson had some positive things to say about beautification, but that came in response to a question about a greenway.
• Neither candidate was familiar with bike sharing programs in other cities. Really? Such programs have only been around for more than 15 years and exist in Portland, Denver, New York (soon), Baltimore, and Chicago, to name just a few. It’s frankly stunning that aldermen with two terms behind them would not be aware of such programs in other cities. The Savannah Bicycle Campaign has a recent post about bike sharing.
• Both candidates indicated support for the proposed 1% sales tax (generally known as TSPLOST) that voters must decide on this in 2012. Jackson’s answer focused on general community improvement. Felser emphasized sound financial stewardship; he suggested that he would bargain for more projects directly impacting the city of Savannah. (I’m pretty sure, however, that it’s too late to make significant changes to the regional funding list, which can be found here.)
• Felser definitely seemed more aware of the details in the lengthy Project Derenne, which in theory should result in significant changes in the Derenne Avenue corridor.
• I thought one of Jackson’s better moments came when suggesting that the city find ways to eliminate any duplication of CAT bus routes, downtown shuttle routes, and SCAD student buses. I doubt there’s a clear way to do this, but she consistently seems willing to entertain new ideas.
• Both candidates expressed strong support for LEED certification of public buildings.
• Both candidates expressed consistent support for bicyclists and bike lanes.
• Neither candidate brought anything new or ambitious to the table, in my opinion. I would have loved to hear some long-range support for a streetcar network.

UPDATED: Here’s the video from last night’s forum: