Anna Rickert reveals how WWF's traffic-light food guides help consumers navigate sustainable choices.
The episode features an interview with Anna Rickert, a food expert at WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), who has worked there for about 11 years. She describes WWF's development of food guides, starting with a fish guide and later adding a meat guide and the VEGO guide for vegetarian products. The VEGO guide assesses 70 products using a traffic-light system (green, yellow, orange) based on four criteria: climate impact, biodiversity, water usage, and detergents (chemicals). It was created in collaboration with SLU (Sweden's Agricultural University), which provided scientific foundation. The guide aims to be practical and inspiring, with green lights for good choices and no red lights to avoid shame. Many products like cauliflower, lentils, and tofu receive green lights, while others like rice and coffee get yellow or orange depending on factors like organic certification. Rickert clarifies misconceptions, such as soy being sustainable when sourced from Europe rather than deforestation-prone areas. She also discusses the Meat Guide, which includes criteria like animal welfare and antibiotics, and notes that wild meat and organic beef get green lights. The Fish Guide is mentioned as more complex due to factors like fishing methods and zones. The episode explores the One Planet Plate concept, which allocates a carbon budget per meal to align with the Paris Agreement. Rickert reflects on changes in public reception over time, including recent backlash due to price concerns, but remains hopeful about sustainable solutions. The program is produced by Thomas Tengby for Sveriges Radio.
