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What we do
Our purpose is to empower you to foster a healthier, more just, and sustainable world through your daily food choices.
GreenChoice is not a calorie counter, diet pusher, or quick fix weight loss app. GreenChoice lets you search and scan thousands of products to immediately discover what’s in and behind your food, all in one place. Filter your dietary needs, get personalized recommendations, create healthy carts, track your impact, and learn how to improve.
Our food purchases profoundly impact our health, our communities, and our planet.
People’s interest in healthy, ethical, and sustainable food has never been greater, but finding trustworthy information to make informed choices has never been more difficult. Deciphering label claims, avoiding harmful ingredients, fighting climate change, and creating well-balanced meals… all while trying to balance your budget – you’ve got a lot on your plate, and we know because we’ve been there!
GreenChoice recognizes how overwhelming it can be to shop with your values, so we’re here to help you do it.
Our team has worked tirelessly to develop a comprehensive and holistic food rating system that empowers you to easily make smart choices that align with YOUR dietary needs and values. We analyze disparate research and data on food, health, and sustainability and match it with your personal preferences – taking the work out of decoding what foods are best for you to eat and buy. Our sources include federal agencies, research institutes, third-party certifiers, peer-reviewed publications, public filings, and more.
Our unbiased food rating, the GreenScore®, instantly gives you the information that food labels don’t. We offer insights into nutrient density, processing concerns, food safety, carbon footprint, and water footprint. We are the ONLY system that rates food products for both their health and sustainability impacts.
GreenChoice empowers you to create a healthy, just, and sustainable world through your daily choices. Join our Community of engaged shoppers and let’s start changing the world one cart at a time.
How it started
Founder and CEO Galen Karlan-Mason is no stranger to the perils of food shopping or the power of food as medicine. As a kid growing up in rural Vermont, he suffered from complex food allergies (gluten, rice, citrus) that made his parents’ weekly trip to the grocery store a time-consuming and frustrating affair. Galen saw firsthand how much time and energy his ‘once-hippie’ parents had to spend to avoid compromising their values of ethically sourced, unprocessed foods. After his family doctor prescribed him a 4-year experimental food-based, naturopathic approach to overcoming his allergies with great success, Galen never thought of food the same way again!
Inspired by his parents, Galen has long held on to the belief that our individual choices can collectively create profound societal and environmental impact. During his time in business school, Galen made it his mission to prove that business can be ethical, environmentally conscious, and financially sustainable.
GreenChoice was born out of these values.
Our leadership
Galen Karlan-Mason, MBA, Founder & CEO
“I got fed up with leaving the grocery store feeling like I had just compromised my health or my values for my budget without knowing what I could have done differently. Once I realized that many other people feel just as overwhelmed by their food choices as I did, I started to see our shared problem as a big data problem – one that we couldn’t solve without some help and inspiration. I envision a day when regardless of where you grow up, what your education is, what color you are, or how much money you make, you can eat food that is healthy for you and the planet. There is a tremendous amount of work in front of us, but it is my hope that GreenChoice will help make this happen.”
Jason McInerney, MSci, Chief Technology & Data Officer
“I grew up in a family focused on holistic wellness, with daily exposure to meditation, yoga, home-cooked meals, and herbal medicine. When I moved to the US from India, I struggled to find balance. Grocery shopping for healthy foods became a real challenge; I found myself spending way too much time trying to make choices between different brands and varieties at the store and unsuccessfully trying to decipher conflicting marketing and product claims on food packages.
I’ve always believed that knowledge is both a right and a privilege. As the lead data scientist for GreenChoice, I feel incredibly fortunate to use skills in data analytics and machine learning to inform consumers, make food shopping easier, and do right by our environment and our society.”
Jason McInerney, MSci, Chief Technology & Data Officer
“I grew up in a family focused on holistic wellness, with daily exposure to meditation, yoga, home-cooked meals, and herbal medicine. When I moved to the US from India, I struggled to find balance. Grocery shopping for healthy foods became a real challenge; I found myself spending way too much time trying to make choices between different brands and varieties at the store and unsuccessfully trying to decipher conflicting marketing and product claims on food packages.
I’ve always believed that knowledge is both a right and a privilege. As the lead data scientist for GreenChoice, I feel incredibly fortunate to use skills in data analytics and machine learning to inform consumers, make food shopping easier, and do right by our environment and our society.”
Makayla Meixner, MS, RDN, Principal Dietitian
“As the World Health Organization states, ‘The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.’ My personal mission is to empower individuals to take knowledgeable action toward the highest level of health for themselves and the planet.”
Barry Berman
Advisor
Marc Katz
Advisor
Paul Fennelly, Phd
Advisor
Jimmy Karlen, Ed.d
Advisor
We are working to expand and diversify our advising team.
If you know stars who might be interested, please let us know!
Commonly asked questions
This is a very important question – the following are reasons we feel you can and should trust us, but if you’re not convinced please shoot us a message via our Connect page with any questions or concerns!
1. We’re not making things up! We rely on data from existing authorities in personal and public health, environmental science, human rights, sustainable agriculture, and beyond. For more info on our data sources check out our GS System page.
2. We will always be honest with you about how we evaluate companies and their products, and we we will always be honest with you about how we make money and who pays us.
3. Our Founder and CEO Galen Karlan-Mason grew up in rural Vermont, raised by two former hippies in the woods. His parents built their house with ~14 friends and installed solar panels on their roof to heat their water, and just 2 years ago they installed additional panels to go 100% renewable. His family raises chickens for eggs and made a point to give their 7 hens more space than the hens have ever dared to explore. His dad drives an electric car and an electric motorcycle. When growing up everything was recycled and lights were never left on after leaving a room. Galen’s parents place value on experiences, nature, personal relationships, kindness, education, and our responsibility to give back. Galen is the product of these values, and Galen started GreenChoice because he was frustraited by how hard it was to make food choices that supported his allergies, health goals, and values. Galen and the rest of the GreenChoice team feel strongly that “it should be easier” to make informed food choices, and it is our goal to empower consumers with the knowledge needed to eat food that is healthy for them and the planet. Galen hopes GreenChoice will leverage our collective buying power to push companies to act in our best interest and to produce products that nurture – rather than harm – us and the planet.
As a public benefit company (PBC), GreenChoice has a legal obligation to prioritize our public benefit to society and the environment alongside financial returns. Our Corproate Purpose we are responsible, “for empowering people to create a more just and sustainable world.”
We are working to acheive this by:
1. Empowering consumers to make informed choices:
1.a. By providing users with critical and honest information on the health implications,
environmental sustainability, and social responsibility of industries, companies, products and
services.
1.b. By giving users feedback on the impact of their choices.
1.c. By connecting users in ways that facilitate and inspire collective action.
2. Conducting operations with integrity and transparency:
2.a. By publicly disclosing information on our scoring methodology and clearly defining and avoiding
potential conflicts of interest that could jeopardize the integrity of our GreenScores.
3. Fostering a work environment of integrity, courage, curiosity, and collaboration:
3.a. By creating a workplace in which we play big, praise diversity, seek truth, and recognize that
only together we will change the world.
We are keenly aware that food and beverage companies may have a vested interest in influencing our product rating process, in order to earn higher GreenScores® or gain favor in the eyes of our Community. Consequently, we will do everything in our power to avoid perceived or real conflicts of interests.
With this in mind, GreenChoice reviews all business partnerships and customer relationships for any potential conflicts of interests, based on the following guidelines.
There exists a perceived or real conflict of interest for GreenChoice if:
1. A food or beverage company pays GreenChoice to rate its products.
2. A food or beverage company pays GreenChoice to use its GreenScores® for advertising, marketing, or promotional purposes.
Integrity
1. Trust is earned and must be honored.
2. Maintain truth unto its innermost parts
1. Question everything at least twice
2. There is always more than one side to the story (and often more than two
1. Love the life you live
2. Be creative; do more with less
3. Playing small does not serve the world (or yourself)
1. Be proud of the dish you bring to the table
2. Instill in others a sense of self worth
3. Only together can we change the world