LaBonne’s Markets responds to outcry over shrimp label

The label bearing the hotly disputed “Gulf of America” designation was changed via an order by LaBonne’s Markets to its wholesaler.
Amy Lake
The label bearing the hotly disputed “Gulf of America” designation was changed via an order by LaBonne’s Markets to its wholesaler.
SALISBURY — Within a day of Salisbury shoppers complaining about a frozen shrimp label bearing the federally-mandated “Gulf of America” place name, LaBonne’s Markets had already had it changed.
Rob LaBonne III, president of the four-location grocery store chain, said the label alteration had actually been ordered long before complaints began in town.
“As a grocery store, we have to be everything to everybody,” LaBonne said. “We have people from all walks of life and political backgrounds who work for us, shop with us.”
LaBonne explained that although a flood of emails and calls – about 20, he reported — came in on Monday, Sept. 22 to complain about the packaging, the store had actually ordered the label to be changed about a month prior in response to a complaint from a customer at the Prospect location, one of the grocery store’s three other locations in Connecticut.
The concentrated outcry in Salisbury came as the result of Sharon resident and political organizer Jill Drew writing about the shrimp label in her twice-per-week email blast “Today’s Action,” which reaches hundreds of subscribers across the region. The outrage stems from President Trump’s January executive order to rename the body of water, which has been referred to as the Gulf of Mexico for more than 400 years and is not owned by any one nation. Only federal agencies within the U.S. are legally bound to use the title.
LaBonne said that while the response was intense, he called back everyone who reached out and found that they quickly appreciated the misunderstanding.
“Everyone I talked to was like, ‘no, we knew you guys wouldn’t do this,’” he said. “We don’t want to get mixed up with people thinking we’re making a political statement with bagged shrimp,” he added, reiterating that the company had acted on the issue well before the Sept. 22 complaints came in.
He explained that the label, which had actually been on the shelves since June, was not LaBonne’s doing but the result of the distributor following Google Maps’ usage of the title as well as an attempt to indicate that the shrimp were harvested in the U.S. rather than abroad. LaBonne said that the store requested the label change immediately after the complaint at the Prospect location, but that the distributor had to sell through the remaining stock bearing the “Gulf of America” label.
Even so, the day that the complaints came in, the store had the distributor print blank labels to cover the ones still in the aisle. The new labels, which are circulating now, eliminate the “Gulf of America” title and simply say “Product of the USA” to indicate their origin.
Salisbury resident Amy Lake, who was the first to bring the issue to Drew’s attention, said she was surprised to see what she saw as nationalist overreach showing up in LaBonne’s, which is a cherished community business.
Lake said that she was “kind of shaken by what [she] saw as jingoism in the aisle,” and was moved to act. She emphasized that the residential voice, and consumer choice, are the “tools of democracy.”
“It’s an act of courage to speak out as a public citizen and say this doesn’t fly here,” she said, expressing her gratitude for all the other shoppers who made their opinions known.
She also thanked the grocery store for its quick action. “I just have to credit LaBonne’s responsiveness to the community… within 24 hours they had addressed our complaint.”
Drew similarly praised the store’s handling of the issue and lauded its affirmation that “politics doesn’t belong in the grocery aisle,” in her words.
“I appreciate that he personally called members of the community who complained,” said Drew. “We didn’t have an argument; we had a conversation. Our country needs more of these conversations across many issues.”
LaBonne said the personal conversations are what makes LaBonne’s the community store that it is. “I encourage people to either reply or give us a call,” he said.
“We’re happy to hear everybody out. We never turn anyone away, and we want to always be better and make sure people feel comfortable shopping with us.”
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.