Ideal

What score 100 looks like for groceries, one sentence per criterion, in the order the tool weighs them by default. Below that, three real places that have substantially lived this out, each with its own gaps.

1. Ownership

   The product comes from a business owned in common by the people who grow, work, and buy it, with no extractive shareholder layer sitting above them.

   For example: A worker-and-consumer-owned cooperative where every member holds one vote, regardless of how much capital they put in.

2. Stewardship

   The producer actively improves the ecological, social, and governance health of the land and community it depends on, rather than only avoiding harm.

   For example: A farm that publishes an annual ecological and social account alongside its financial one, so stewardship gets measured, not just claimed.

3. Traceability

   Score 100 means every stage from shop back to the producer is publicly documented: who grew it, who processed it, how it travelled.

   For example: A CSA share where members can visit the field that grew their vegetables.

4. Abundance

   The product is sourced from a region with a genuine food surplus, so buying it does not draw scarce local food away from people who need it.

   For example: A harvest deliberately grown larger than members can eat, with the surplus shared to food banks instead of left to spoil.

5. Production

   The product is grown using permaculture methods, or at minimum certified organic, and never relies on factory-farmed animal inputs.

   For example: A market garden using no-till, polyculture beds instead of monoculture rows treated with synthetic inputs.

6. Climate

   The product's full lifecycle emits close to zero net greenhouse gases, with plant-based staples favored because animal feed conversion wastes land that could grow food directly.

   For example: A weekly vegetable box that replaces most meat-heavy calories with seasonal produce grown nearby.

7. Employees

   Everyone who touches the product, from field to shelf, earns a living wage, has a real voice in decisions, and is actively supported to learn new skills.

   For example: A cooperative that funds member-employees' continuing education and rotates them through different roles rather than fixing them in one task.

8. Regenerative

   Farming methods leave soil, water, and biodiversity measurably richer each season than the season before, beyond merely sustaining today's baseline.

   For example: Cover cropping and composting that raises measured soil organic matter year over year.

9. Reuse

   Packaging and containers are designed to be reused many times before recycling is ever needed.

   For example: Refillable glass jars collected at the next delivery instead of single-use packaging thrown away after one use.

10. Regional

    The product travels the shortest reasonable distance from farm to table, ideally from Vienna itself, then the rest of Austria, then neighboring regions.

    For example: A vegetable box grown within a short distance of the city and delivered within a day of harvest.

11. Seasonal

    What is sold matches what is actually in season locally, without forcing off-season produce through heated greenhouses or long-haul air freight.

    For example: A harvest box whose contents change with the calendar instead of offering the same items year round.

12. Natural

    The product contains no synthetic additives, artificial preservatives, or chemical residues from production.

    For example: Vegetables grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, verified by organic or biodynamic certification.

13. Healthy

    The product contains no ingredients linked to known health harms and supports a genuinely nutritious diet.

    For example: Whole, minimally processed vegetables and staples with no ultra-processed additives or controversial preservatives.

14. Price

    The product costs no more than a conventional supermarket equivalent, so the values-aligned choice is not reserved for people with money to spare.

    For example: A cooperative markup of roughly 25 percent over wholesale, well below typical supermarket margins.

Lived examples