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• The Food Issue Survey
• The Food Issue Editorial: And…
• Healthy Kids’ Snacks: Concerned…
• Carpe Lycopersicon Esculentum…
• To Eat, or Not to Eat?
• Eating With Your Head: A Review…
• Food: The View From Abroad

Organic food has come a long way since it conjured up images of communes, carrot juice, and mung beans. What started as a fringe industry is now a multibillion-dollar sector of the economy as the market has expanded by leaps and bounds. Even mega-giant Wal-Mart is getting in on the act, having recently announced that it’s dramatically expanding its organic foods line.

While there is still debate on the nutritional benefits of organic products (though most people agree that organic foods taste better), the rapid growth of the industry—led by chains such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats—speaks volumes about consumers’ desire to have choices in what they put in their mouths.

Like many other “progressive” trends, organic foods gained in acceptance beginning in the 1960s. The early adopters were highly dedicated to the cause, motivated by strong ideological views and prepared to try alternative ways of living—and eating. They also possessed a shared sense of community and saw food production as a local concern. It has taken time—and a substantial dose of commercial acumen—for the concept of eating organic food to filter down to the mainstream. Indeed, that the world’s largest retail chain would someday release its own brand of organic food would probably have been greeted with shock and dismay by the early adopters of the organic ethic. The idea of huge mechanized farms producing “organic” food at the cheapest unit price possible would have seemed totally anathema to them.

“Big organic” as it’s now called is supplying supermarket chains like Whole Foods and soon-to-be organic food seller Wal-Mart. For all intents and purposes, the huge organic agro-businesses in California and Arizona—highly mechanized and energy intensive—are just like their nonorganic counterparts. The only real difference is that artificial fertilizers and nutrients are not used in production.

There is nothing “local” about today’s organic businesses, either. Much of the country’s 15 billion dollars’ (and rising) worth of organic food is grown far from the markets where it’s consumed. In some cases, it’s even jet-freighted from destinations as far away as Argentina and New Zealand. It’s been estimated that one calorie’s worth of arugula grown on the West Coast costs 57 calories of fossil fuel to ship it to the East Coast (The New Yorker, May 15, 2006). This is a long way from the small-scale, locally based, short-supply-chain philosophy that underpinned early organic agriculture.
The organic business is on a roll. According to some estimates, the business sector is expanding by 20 percent a year. It is clearly a good thing that consumers are making thoughtful decisions about the food they consume, and are translating these decisions into actual purchases. And, recognizing this trend, big business is doing what it does best—catering to the market.

Lest we get too taken in by the benefits of organic, researchers tell us that it’s not a cure-all for what ails us. Its health benefits are still hotly debated, and “big organic” relies on energy-guzzling supply chains to get product to market. It doesn’t make much difference either if you’re eating organic butter or organic beef. Fat is still fat.

g-Think predicts that the debate over organic food will heat up as “big organic” grows ever bigger and looks more and more like its nonorganic counterpart. And the organic marketplace itself might just fracture into various niche markets with mainstream organic becoming “organic lite” as consumers demand “real” organic foods.

Some entrepreneurs are beginning to take on Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Trader Joes by setting up shop in places not yet served by these major chains. It’s going to be an interesting next few years in the organic marketplace.