Re: Critics Call Out Plant-based Food Companies Over Sustainability Claims:
I believe it is unreasonable to expect a company to measure the environmental impact of absolutely everything in its operations and supply chains. Collecting data for its own sake does not necessarily translate into any meaningful environmental benefit; resources could be better allocated to specific measures that do.

But if companies don’t disclose even the most basic of sustainability performance data, such as water use, carbon emissions or waste, they can’t reasonably claim that their products provide any positive environmental benefit at all – let alone that they’re “saving the planet,” as some major plant-based food companies claim. Without any proof whatsoever, they’re essentially asking investors, consumers and the public to just take their claims on faith.

That’s greenwashing, pure and simple.

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This post was published in The Globe & Mail as a Letter to the Editor. 

Photo by Martin Parr