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Recently, a friend tried to convince me of the health and environmental benefits of eating organic food rather than the conventional food items found in the majority of the nation's supermarkets. As I listened to the seemingly rehearsed argument, as though it was an issue discussed many times before, I couldn't help but think of how the consumers' recent shift toward organic products will undoubtedly have an impact on the economy and America's farmers. For example, many consumers buy organic foods in a belief that they are better for their health and free of any chemicals, hormones or insecticides. However, some consumers purchase organic food to aid small local farms and are conscious of the fossil fuels needed to ship food long distances for large supermarket chains, suggesting organic food has a lighter environmental footprint. While this concept seems beneficial to all parties involved, the demand for organic foods is creating a vast market for organic farmers and organic supermarkets, prompting the nations largest supermarket chains to take notice.

According to the Organic Trade Association, organic food sales reached $14.0 billion in 2006, up from $6.0 billion five years earlier. Although organic food only makes up 2.5 percent of US food sales, it's by far the fastest growing segment of the market. This growth has large grocery retailers such as Wal-Mart, Safeway and Albertson's expanding their organic offerings to meet demand and capture market share. As a consumer, one could argue this shift will simply result in more access to high-quality organic food, while successfully keeping prices down. However, entry into the market by already heavily scrutinized Wal-Mart has some worried the change will result in organic food produced from corporate agribusiness, factory farms and cheap imports of questionable quality. There is also potential concern that the smaller organic farmers in the US could see their livelihoods collapse the same way industrial workers saw their jobs vanish as big box retailers pressured domestic manufacturers and forced a shift to China and other low-wage countries in order to maximize profits. This business strategy, albeit profitable, could potentially result in questionable organic products as well as an increased need for fossil fuels to ship the products, thus negating the ideal of organic food altogether. Ultimately the power remains in the hands of the consumer. Will consumers choose cheap industrial food from factory farms and perhaps questionable third world imports, or will they continue to support local family farmers?

Category(s): Random Thoughts
Posted by Jon Grupp at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)