Food Product Sustainability Rating in USA

In supermarkets in the USA, customers can now use a type of rating to determine just how sustainable the food is that there are purchasing.

This is important as it is now well recognised that people want to do the right thing by the environment and therefore would prefer to purchase food and other items that are more “green”.

The HowGood rating uses up to 70 factors to determine a four step rating system that goes from None to Great. There is a tag that comes with the rating which shows the rating in globes to make it easy for customers to see how sustainable each food is.

To date over 100,000 products have been rated based on sustainability, freshness and local sourcing.

This isn’t the only Sustainability related rating system that is now out there. Sustainability is a complex issue and so a rating system with a clear result makes it much easier for people to understand. Like the Heart Foundation Tick, it takes time for people to understand what the symbol / rating means and eventually it makes the products it is on seem much more credible.

It is also important to remember that each rating type is specific to it’s market. Like the HowGood rating is specifically for consumers of supermarket product.Ratings are only as good as the information used to determine them, so it is important that each rating system be carefully tested before it is used commercially or publicly, so that Greenwashing is not done.

Whether a product is “Green” is not the only factor influencing the purchase decision but it is certainly becoming more important. It is only a matter of time before a similar rating is in use within Australia.

This article has been written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.