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How to Eat Ethically: Ethical Shopping Guide

By Jamie Pritscher ·

Give Back Every Day Through Ethical Food Products and Restaurants

For many of us, we're privileged enough to be able to choose which grocery stores we go to, which clothing brands we buy and even small things like which salad dressing we prefer.

With this privilege of choice comes an opportunity: you can participate in a movement called ethical consumerism and become an ethical shopper.

Ethical consumerism essentially is the idea that you should consider the impact of what you buy on other people. You can think about its effects on the people who made the product, on the economy of that place, on the environment, on animals and others.

Though you might not be able to afford to do this for every product, keeping in mind the harm and good that the things you buy do is one way to make an impact every day.

While there isn't a completely ethical version of every product, there are many ethical products that you can easily substitute for others that are less responsible. In this post, we suggest ethical products you might use every day, like groceries, as well as ethical supermarkets and ethical chain restaurants you can go to.

We also partner with Miigle+, a company that has created a free, downloadable extension that will show you which brands and products are ethical when you shop online. We highly recommend it, as it helps you discover new products and companies that either offer ethical products or give back to different causes.

 

Ethical Groceries 

Newman's Own

How They're an Ethical Company: They give 100% of net profits and royalties to their foundation, which supports non-profits around the world.

Ethical Products:

  • Salad dressing
  • Pasta sauces
  • Frozen pizzas
  • Salsa
  • Popcorn, pretzels, dried fruit
  • Candy and mints
  • Chocolate
  • Cookies
  • Olive oil and vinegar
  • Mayonnaise 

KIND Snacks

How They're an Ethical Company: Profits from KIND Snacks support the KIND Foundation, a charitable organization that supports social causes.

Ethical Products:

  • Granola bars
  • Fruit snacks
  • Granola
  • Breakfast bars
  • Fruit strips
  • Granola snack bites

Ben & Jerry's

How They're an Ethical Company: They use only fair-trade, fair-wage ingredients and push for GMO labelling. Additionally, they engage in philanthropy through the Ben & Jerry's Foundation.

Ethical Products:

  • Ice cream
  • Frozen yogurt
  • Chocolate-dipped ice cream confections

ONEHOPE Wine

How They're an Ethical Company: They support 12 different causes with different products through the ONEHOPE Foundation.

Ethical Products:

  • Red wine
  • White wine
  • Rosé
  • Sparkling wine

King Arthur Flour

How They're an Ethical Company: They have several different programs and events that give back to their community, and they also promote sustainable farming.

Ethical Products:

  • Various flours
  • Baking mixes

The brands below are all a part of Grupo Bimbo, which has specific programs to target different areas of philanthropy and social responsibility. Therefore, they each are ethical and give back through their parent company.

Sara Lee Breads

Ethical Products:

  • Various sliced breads
  • Bagels
  • Pound cakes
  • English muffins
  • Rolls

Boboli

Ethical Products:

  • Pre-made pizza crust
  • Pizza sauce

Arnold Breads

Ethical Products:

  • Various sliced breads
  • Sandwich thins
  • Flatbreads
  • Dried stuffing mix

Entenmann's

Ethical Products:

  • Donuts
  • Mini desserts
  • Loaf cakes
  • Cupcakes
  • Cookies 
  • Pies
  • Bars
  • Pastries

Thomas'

Ethical Products:

  • English muffins
  • Sliced specialty breads
  • Bagels
  • Pitas
  • Tortillas

Kellogg’s and PepsiCo have also been recognized as highly ethical companies by Ethisphere Institute, an independent organization that assesses the ethics of large companies. If you cannot find or afford some of the products we've previously suggested, these two food companies are also a good choice. 

Ethical Supermarkets

There are many other ethical food brands out there, many of which are small, local and sold in only select stores. The supermarkets below not only promote ethical groceries and products, but they also engage in philanthropy and socially responsible programs themselves.

  • Aldi
  • Target store brands: Simply Balanced, Archer Farms, Market Pantry
  • Whole Foods Market
  • Wegman's
  • Trader Joe's
  • Safeway

Ethical Chain Restaurants

Each of these chain restaurants is engaged in different programs promoting social responsibility, philanthropy and sustainable initiatives. You can learn more about their ethics and charitable work by clicking on the links.

We hope this helps you shop ethically and responsibly! If you know of any other ethical food brands, restaurants or supermarkets we should include, let us know in the comments below.