Who’s Organic Now
Food for thought about the organic food industry.
With the mainstream acceptance of organic foods, the organic food industry is becoming big business. What used to be considered the eccentric, hippy farmer is now transitioning to the large scale farming or food processing. Is this good or bad? I think that there are pros and cons to the changing organic food industry.
Let’s first look at who owns who, something that is not always obvious from the food label. Coca-Cola now owns Odwalla, Kellogg’s recently bough Kashi, Dean Foods owns Horizon and Hershey’s bought Dagoba organic chocolate.
Those that have resisted buyouts and have remained independent are Eden Foods, Alvarado Street Bakery, Clif Bar/Luna, Nancy’s Springfield Creamery, Seventh Generation, Organic Valley, Nature’s Path/Lifestream and Golden Temple/Yogi Tea/Peace Cereal.
Knowing this, does this affect your food purchases? It may depend on how you feel about the parent company and their environmental or political impacts. One thing to think about is what is important to you. What do you expect from the nationwide organic standards? Basically, the organic standards prohibit genetically engineered, irradiated ingredients, use of synthetic pesticides, and fertilizers with sewage sludge. These standards are beneficial to the farmland from reduced use chemicals. If you want to reduce the environmental impact of your food choices you would most likely choose locally grown and produced food, thus reducing the petroleum use to transport the food and supporting your local farmer. Although with our busy lifestyles and quest for convenience, you may lean towards supporting the independent organic industry. These choices could be made on a continuum, less processed, locally grown to independent organic, towards corporate organic.
So what are the pros and cons? Pro: organic food has become more affordable and decreased use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Cons: foods may travel great distances with increased use of fuel resources, more packaging and waste, potential food safety issues due to the time that fresh produce arrives at destinations, loss of income or support to locally produced foods. These are few things to think about with the organic food industry. It is a transitioning industry. Stay informed.
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