Sustainable Economy Rating Groups

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List rating groups for discussion at the next meeting. Perhaps describe why you like them. And/or issues to discuss about them.

Please put your initials by the groups you add, and next to any comments, so we know who's doing what, without having to search through the history.

1. GREEN AMERICA (Paul B.) -- http://www.greenamerica.org/greenbusiness/sealofapproval.cfm This group lists 93 businesses in Massachusetts they have certified to be socially and environmentally positive. But not all of them might meet our SEWG's criterion of LOCALLY community-building, so we might need to consider those on a case-by-case basis.

2. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS NETWORK (Paul B.) -- This lists certified businesses in Cambridge -- http://cambridgelocalfirst.org/business-directory/ ; in Somerville -- http://www.somervillelocalfirst.org/our-members/ ; and in Worcester -- http://www.worcesterlocalfirst.org/WLF/members.pdf

3. BOSTON 'MAIN STREETS' PROGRAM (Paul B.) -- http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/obd/about.asp This program generates community employment, but it's not yet clear to me if they actually certify the companies for meeting also environmentally-positive criteria.

4. INSTITUTE FOR GREEN BUSINESS (Wes N.) -- http://www.gbcertified.com/ This certification focuses on environmental sustainability only.

5. NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING, NOFA/MASS (Wes N.) -- The Organic Food Guide, certified organic farms in Massachusetts. http://theorganicfoodguide.com/ Certified organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers. http://baystateorganic.org/

6. CALIFORNIA CERTIFIED ORGANIC FARMERS, CCOF (Wes N.) -- Nationwide searchable directory of organic product suppliers. http://www.ccof.org/directories.php Here is their certification info. http://www.ccof.org/certification.php

7. FOOD ALLIANCE (Wes N.) -- http://foodalliance.org/certification Low-spray agriculture (not organic), designed to assure safe and humane treatment of animals, workers, and environment.

8. MASS. FARMERS' MARKETS FEDERATION (Paul B.) -- http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_Main.aspx .

9. WORKER-OWNED COMPANIES (Paul B.) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_cooperatives#United_States This is Wikipedia's list for the entire USA, but many of the companies are actually local Massachusetts firms. (Even some that don't show their location in the list, do show Massachusetts in the website that is linked to their name in the list.)