The 8 Best Sustainable Pet Food Brands For Dogs and Cats

Best Overall

Open Farm

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For pet owners who want the most comprehensive possible account of companies’ morally conscientious practices you can’t beat Open Farm. Since opening in 2014, sustainable Canadian pet food brand has made hyper-careful sourcing a top priority, in reaction to the horrifying practices that they saw employed by the mainstream pet food industry. Just as impressive, Open Farm enforces high standards throughout their supply chain.

Open Farm impresses even without considering environmental bonafides, with a product line that offers a wide range of options, including dry and wet food, freeze-dried raw food, gently cooked food, treats, and bone broth.

You can use a filter function on their site to find products that won’t exacerbate your pet’s allergies, intolerances, or sensitivities, whether you’re looking for gluten-free, soy-free, poultry-free, single-protein options, or more. If you’re worried about whether a given product will provide enough sustenance for your pup, never fear: all of Open Farm’s products meet AAFCO’s Dog Food Nutrient Profile standards for all ages (their product line includes recipes for puppies, dogs, high-protein diet dogs, and senior dogs) and breeds.

The company’s carefully vetted sourcing partners include Certified Humane, Ocean Wise, Global Animal Partnership, and Terracycle, all of whom practice humane and environmentally conscientious practices and deliver top-end organic ingredients. Through working with these suppliers, Open Farm is can trace almost every ingredient in its products all the way back to its source. They also pay very close attention to regulating their emissions footprint and make sure to use sustainable packaging.

There aren’t many drawbacks to Open Farm dog food when it comes to sustainable pet food options. Products that use fresh, human-grade ingredients are obviously pricier than other less painstakingly sourced products—that’s true of everything on this list—but not exorbitantly so. With Open Farm, you’re certainly paying fairly for quality and for ethical sourcing and transparency.

Best Organic

Tender & True

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Tender & True offers meticulous tracing of sources for all of their pet food products, and uses USDA-certified organic ingredients to create a selection products for cats and dogs. The company holds four certifications of note from credible non-profit organizations, including Animal Welfare Certification from the Global Animal Protection (GAP) organization, USDA Organic certification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sustainable Seafood certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), and non-GMO verification from the Non-GMO Project.

For dogs and cats, Tender & True offers two recipes made with organic ingredients, Organic Chicken & Liver and Organic Turkey & Liver, as canned wet food and kibble. There are also two organic kibble recipes optimized for small breed dogs, Organic Turkey & Oats and Organic Chicken, and a freeze-dried dog food, Farmers Market Recipe,

All of Tender & True products for dogs and cats are free of corn, soy, and wheat, and are manufactured in the United States without the use of artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. The packaging for dog and cat products look similar but the formulas are not interchangeable, so make sure you are getting the right item for your dog or cat.

Best Human-Grade

Wet Noses

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Founded in 1998, the Seattle-based dog food company Wet Noses’ principles are based on the M.O. that pet owners shouldn’t feed their pup anything they wouldn’t be willing to eat themselves. It’s a tall order, but the company has built its strong reputation on marketing dog treats and pet food entirely made of human-grade ingredients.

Wet Noses’ sustainable practices are based on making dog food with non-GMO ingredients. No product sold by the company contains wheat, soy, preservatives, or any artificial ingredients whatsoever. They also source all the meat used in their carnivorous products from farms and suppliers that are less than 40 miles from their headquarters northeast of Seattle—a Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level III-certified, human-grade facility. 

Though Wet Noses has local roots, its operation these days is enormous, with international distribution. This network is a testament to both customer satisfaction, the innovativeness of its business model, and its well-tested commitment to sustainability and food safety.

Best Raw Food

Maev

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Maev claims a number of advantages to their raw food offerings, including improved digestion and immune health; better liver and pancreatic function; healthier skin and coat; and increased energy.

Established veterinary organizations are less convinced. The American Veterinary Medical Association advises against raw food diets: "The AVMA discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs as well as humans." The American College of Veterinary Nutrition concurs.

Check out our guide for more of the pros and cons of raw food diets.

But if you've done your research and want to try out a raw food diet for yourself, then Maev is an excellent option. In their products—available on a subscription basis—Maev includes lean protein, raw edible bone, organ meat, and bits of fresh produce to cover all the bases of the doggie food pyramid.

Maev’s diets are rich in probiotics, proteins, enzymes, fish oil, and more to exacerbate positive health effects outside nutrition. One of the best aspects of Maev’s products is that most of them are full, well-balanced meals—carefully curated bundles to assure your pup gets everything it needs nutritionally and more.

One practical downside, however, is that a lot of Maev’s options are bulk shipment or subscription-based; although you can cancel your subscription at any time, it may not be all dog owners’ ideal business model if you want to mix and match their pup’s diet a bit more. Also, be extra careful with raw meat, which are easily contaminated with bacteria if you’re not extra conscientious about cleanliness.

Most Trusted

The Honest Kitchen

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The Honest Kitchen is one of the most trusted brand names in the sustainable pet food industry, having been an innovator in the world of fresh and organic dog and cat food since its founding in 2002. The company has spent years continually refining its sourcing and product line and growing its business. Today, their extensive catalog of human-grade pet foods includes dozens of dry, dehydrated, and wet cat and dog diets, plus toppers, treats, and supplement options.

Chock full of essential nutrients and vitamins, and sourced almost entirely domestically, Honest Kitchen’s products will check every box for most pet owners who value organic ingredients and sustainability. For some obsessive consumers, there are a few ingredients in some of their products that may raise an eyebrow—honey, potatoes, and sodium selenite—for their lack of nutritional value. But there are no specific health drawbacks to these ingredients.

With a comprehensive nutritional profile across so many different product options, Honest Kitchen has really earned its stripes in the human-grade, ethically sourced pet food world, making it a great option for conscientious pet owners. It isn’t the cheapest organic product on the market, but the price tag seems commensurate with human-grade ingredients.

Best Vegan

Wild Earth

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It was a hit on Shark Tank—Mark Cuban helped them raise $23 million—and it’s proven to be a hit with vegan pet owners, too. Wild Earth produces the rare fully vegan pet food that seems to be sufficiently protein-rich and nutritionally balanced to be the center of a dog’s diet.

In business since 2019, the company has created its products using clean and sustainable plant proteins that offer more protein by weight than most meaty dog foods. Wild Earth’s go-to ingredients include chickpeas, sweet potato, spinach, pumpkin, oats, and more.

Some are skeptical of vegan dog food’s ability to compete with other omnivore-friendly products on the market when it comes to nutritiousness and positive health effects. However, Wild Earth was developed by veterinarians and pet nutritionists and has vegan pet products that meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) guidelines for balanced dog food.

For the environmentally conscious, Wild Earth is an excellent choice, too, because the meat used in most kibble dog foods is estimated to be responsible for a little over a quarter of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the United States.

There are a few potential drawbacks to Wild Earth, however. Though its products contain clean ingredients with no artificial fillers or preservatives, they are not certified organic or non-GMO. It is also significantly pricier than traditional kibble dog food.

One of the wild card factors with any dog food is the possibility that your pup will not like the dog food you select. Because of dogs’ omnivore tendencies, there is a higher risk with Wild Earth that they will not take to it.

Best Customizable

Ollie

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Perhaps you’re a hands-on pup owner who likes to carefully customize your dog’s diet more so than take pet food companies’ word for it when they tell you your pup is getting the full food pyramid covered. In that case, Ollie—a relative newcomer to the sustainable pet diet game—may be the solution for you. Fresh food diets like Ollie are especially ideal for dogs with stomach issues or allergies.

These recipes read like something off a menu in a health food restaurant, including tons of veggies, with kale, carrots, pumpkin, spinach, peas, squash, and others. The central ingredients are whole and organ meat, providing the bulk of the protein content.

All of the meat used is certified as USA-sourced, including chicken, lamb, beef, or turkey. High-quality ingredients cost a bit more money, but you can easily do the math and calculate how much your dog needs to eat per meal and make your Ollie investment wisely.

Best Treats

Smallbatch Pets Freeze Dried Hearts Dog & Cat Treats

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Smallbatch Pets is a family-owned pet food company that started in 2004 in the San Francisco Bay Area, inspired by the burgeoning slow-food movement. True to its name it has focused on producing minimally processed pet food using ethically raised meats and organic whole vegetables and herbs while striving to keep their carbon footprint small.

The brand's high-protein crunchy dog and cat treats feature just one single ingredient made with whole cuts of locally sourced, free-range, and pasture-raised meat—not rendered meat materials. This makes the snacks ideal for pets with allergies. The hearts are gently freeze-dried to preserve their raw nutrition and meaty taste and give them their crunchy texture.

The treats come in five flavors—beef, lamb, pork, turkey, and chicken—all from humanely raised animals free of antibiotics and hormones, made with no preservatives. The company prides itself on transparent ingredient sourcing, with a majority of its animal proteins derived from farms in California.

The treats are packaged in 3.5-ounce bags and cost around $11 per bag on auto-ship. One thing to note is that you may find some freeze-dried pieces of fat mixed in with the freeze-dried hearts.