SUSTAINABLE FOOD OPTIONS
How and what food we consume has a big impact on our ability to live sustainable lives. Check out these sustainable foods and brands you can get behind on your road to food sustainability through conscious consumerism.
This site contains affiliate links for your convenience. The goal is to first provide links to eco-friendly, ethical, and sustainable brands, and then to those same type brands that use Amazon (i.e., Climate Pledge Friendly Certification), if possible. Therefore, you may see multiple links for one option. Should you make a purchase through any link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. See my Disclaimers & Disclosures and Privacy Policy for more information.
Like this? Share it with others!
Explore the Sustainable Food Directory by category. If you don’t find anything you like at this point, keep coming back. The directory will be continually updated.
Sustainable Food Product Directory
More Categories and Brands to Come
Coffee
Upcycled Food
Take the Guesswork Out of Shopping Sustainable Food Options
Thank you for visiting the Sustainable Food portion of being a Conscious Consumer.
If you have been reading up on why food sustainability is important on my Sustainable Food page, and you wish to learn what foods or brands you can purchase to do your part to work towards food sustainability, then congratulations!
You’re making strides to reducing your eco and carbon footprints and towards living a more sustainable lifestyle.
Sustainable Food 3rd Party Certifiers
More Certifiers to Come
Here are hard-working, U.S. and international 3rd party product certifying organizations that take a lot of the sustainable-buying guesswork out of your purchasing. Look for their labels when you make your next purchase.
Click on each logo to see their certified product listings that hold with their mission to make the planet a sustainable place to live.
Move over C and S Corps… Certified B Corporations (B Corps) are redefining how business is done. “Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.” If you see this label on a brand, that’s a brand you can get behind as a conscious consumer. Full stop. Read more about B Corps and what companies must do to get B Corp certified. Search their directory to see who is a certified B Corp.
Fair Trade USA certifies and promotes fair trade products to enable “sustainable development and community empowerment by cultivating a more equitable global trade model that benefits farmers, workers, fishermen, consumers, industry, and the earth”. Read more about Fair Trade USA.
The Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit whose mission is to “contribute to the health of the world’s oceans by recognising and rewarding sustainable fishing practices, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood and working with our partners to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis” through a certified fishing program and recognizable eco-label for consumers. Read more about the Marine Stewardship Council.
The USDA Organic label is for agricultural products certified to have been “grown and processed according to federal guidelines addressing, among many factors, soil quality, animal raising practices, pest and weed control, and use of additives. Organic producers rely on natural substances and physical, mechanical, or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible.” Agricultural products can be certified USDA Organic if it was grown on soil that had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest. Learn more about prohibited substances and find certified organic farms businesses.
The Rainforest Alliance seal means a product (or a specified ingredient) was, “produced by farmers, foresters, and/or companies working together to create a world where people and nature thrive in harmony.” The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organization working to provide a new normal of business by building an alliance to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. Learn more about the Rainforest Alliance and the issues they are tackling or search for a certified product.
The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit whose mission is to protect the non-GMO food supply by providing education and outreach and third-party verification for non-GMO food and products making the Non-GMO Project a trusted certification label. Read more about the Non-GMO Project.
Now, this is not a label you may see on your food packaging. Yet. However, what this association is doing to advocate for food waste reduction by using upcycled food is simply amazing. I thought you might like to know about them. Read more about the Upcycled Food Association and find its member organizations using upcycled food.
The USDA BioPreferred Program’s goal is to increase the purchase and use of biobased products to increase the use of renewable agricultural resources while reducing the U.S.’s reliance on petroleum. Labeling is voluntary but when you do see this label, know it indicates that a product or package is USDA Certified Biobased. Search the certified product directory and read more about the program.
The harvesting of palm oil, used in 50% of home and food products, has seen the slashing and burning of thousands of acres of natural habitat, which is causing deforestation, climate change effects, and is leading cause of orangutan extinction. Starting in 2017, the International Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark (POFCAP) is an international, non-profit organization operating in 20 countries, and counting, working to thoroughly assess and certify products to ensure they are palm oil free. Look for the Palm Oil Free logo when you shop so you know which products do not falsely claim to be “palm oil free’. Learn more about POFCAP’s goals and operation.
Also working to protect orangutans from extinction, the Orangutan Alliance is an independent industry-based, non-profit organization promoting the sustainable palm oil harvesting for consumer products through its Palm Oil Free Certification Program. Also look for this seal when shopping food, home and beauty products. Read more about the Orangutan Alliance’s mission.