Buying and selling the public on organic

Organic, aromatherapy, herbal...it's all gone mainstream. Walmart sells many products bearing those labels. And the once exhorbitant prices of organic produce are coming down as organic production proves to be efficient enough to compete in the marketplace.

The market share of organic produce steadily rises, as does that of herbal products generally. Organic produce is available in some farmers markets at prices equal or below those of the supermarket, but there still is a price discrepancy which makes the popularity of organic food disproportionately high among the more affluent classes.

Those wishing to eat organic can overcome any financial burden that entails by growing some of their food themselves. Most will be pleasantly surprised to discover how much food they can in fact derive from even a small back yard if they are successful in cultivating it. What you cannot grow, you can then afford to buy in organic form.

However much corporate propaganda is spread against organic food, and it is increasing, there is still a large segment of the public who cannot feel comfortable about ingesting toxic pesticide residues. As corporate food goes "organic", we do indeed have to pay attention to whether it is just the same "empty calorie" stuff with slight improvements, or really healthy food.

The more food is grown locally, serves as the basis of some communication between the members of a community, and knowledge of cultivation increases (is recovered), the better the health of the community and nation will be.

 

Organic food has definitely gone from underground to mainstream. In a way, it's a good thing, because more organic food is being produced and more people have access to pesticide-free food. However, as corporations try to get a hold of this market and want to carry organic food, the entire idea behind organic farming in the first place gets watered down, and so do the laws regulating organic food (the organic regulations were relaxed quite a bit in early 2006 to allow more lee-way for companies who wanted to get into the organic market). I call it the Wal-Martization of the organic food industry.

Almost every major food company has an organic line now, which leads me to believe that it's all the same stuff, but with a different label and price. Things grown on huge commercial farms can be labeled as organic, even though huge farms tend to go against what the original organic movement was all about. Organic food becomes less and less sustainable when it's done on a bigger and bigger scale. Basically, because companies have started seeing organic food as a "market" and an excuse to sell their products for more money, the entire idea of organic food (which was originally based on sustainable farming practices and small, local farms) is getting watered down and becoming more and more meaningless... very sad.

I still buy organic food, but I do so at my local co-op, which makes supporting local organic farmers a priority. I also shop at the farmer's market when it's in season, where I can talk to the people who grew the food directly. There are a lot of small organic farmers who have decided not to keep the organic certification, because it's so expensive and seems to favor larger farms over the small, sustainable ones it was originally designed to help. The food is still organic, it's just not "certified" and in fact is more sustainable than the "organic" food grown on factory farms.

So, consumers who really care about where their food is coming from are still gonna have to be picky about where they shop & what they buy. Or just learn to grow their own, which I hope to do as soon as I get a place of my own to do so. (Growing tomatoes & herbs in pots just doesn't get me too far, lol).

 

Selling people on organic food made simple:
If you don't spend the money now, you will spend it later when your sick from chemicals and toxic food, needing 1)pharmaceutical drugs 2)chemo-therapy 3)Thousand doller trips to the hospital. Organic food is an investment in your health, wellbeing and happiness. What could possibly be worth more than that?


Organic food is powerful. The organic food movement basically grew itself...you never see organic food commercials or billboards advertising organic food. People just buy it....

 

Ture, I have def. seen some free magazines promoting organic stuff in health food stores.

I don't own a t-shirt...Saw one @ a drum circle one time. Looked home-made, but the girl really rocked it and looked good in it.

I've seen a couple bumper stickers, not many though...

I agree local is better. Homegrown is the best, even if it is just a bunch of sprouts your growing in your kitchen. Homegrown>local>organic. Homegrown and local stuff is superior for the environmnt as well as your health. Fresh is best =)

 

I'm just curious, I wondered about this last night after watching something on the news, but where does Fair Trade come in for you? I mean, say you gotta choose a food that is organic AND fair trade but from miles and miles away, versus a food locally grown, what do you choose? Isn't it a good idea to help out farmers in developing countries too? Especially if they're choosing organic there?

 

I have noticed that taste on colorado grapes too.

 

barter mama has brought up very important points. Yes, having more organic food available is great for the population as a whole, and the environment, but large companies are not faithful to "real" organic food. When I first found out that the USDA was taking over organic certification I was happy. Only then did I learn about the motivations of large corportations.

Buying local is very very important.

Also, I would like to encourage all of you to consider farming methods. In an effort to prevent soil erosion and depletion, going beyond just organic methods, and including no-till, no-dig, or forest gardens in your decisions should be important.

Organic farms that burn fossil fuels, constantly till and deplete the soil, and also compact the soil with montrous equipment, still harm the earth, just less than their chemical using friends. Commerial organic foods are an improvement, but not the answer.

I want to farm full-time for a living sometime in the future, but I'm currently working for a home improvement company.

I believe that gardening, permaculture, and natural farming (Manasobu Fukuoka has written excellent books about natural farming) are the best answers for feeding this oversized population that is breaking over earths carrying capacity. If the population were smaller, foraging is the natural way that food is to be provided.

 

Farming properly is definatley important.

It all goes back to the dirt...

If you don't have healthy dirt, you want have healthy plants, and in turn you won't have healthy animals who live off the plants...And if the plants or animals your eating aren't coming from land that had a highly mineralized soil, were not gonna be mineralized, or fully conscious and living anywhere near our completle potential.

Getting a full spectrum of minerals via rockdust or diluted ocean water solution are some of the best farming/gardening techniques in my opinion...

 

Everyone familiar with the food supply crisis this past summer?

There already is a system of decentralizing food production, supply and distribution being defined by breaking supply and distribution down to regional and then local growing areas.
The urban centers have no choice currently but to draw upon distant farms and countries to feed the population. I am on LI NY and the population density is crushing. There are plenty of growers and organic growers but they can't supply the demand.
As for organic foods yes there are more and diverse products entering the market everyday. This will continue as people realize the additives and chemicals in foods are triggering asthma and food related allergies in their children and in sensitized adults.
Another reason for purchasing locally grown produce is cost effectiveness. I used to buy nursery stock all over the nation and Canada for the retail garden center I worked for, and it has become cheaper to ship product grown closer to home.
Soil. There is the growing trend to incorporate different benefical bacteria and micro organisms into the soils to enhance plant growth and natural plant protein (harprin) to improve plant immune systems, to effect better yields without relying on any types of pesticidal sprays.

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