Organic Foods Continue to Move Into Mainstream Consumption

By Mark Hoerrner

In the Feb. 2003 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a scholarly journal produced by the American Society of Chemistry, Dr. Alyson Mitchell of the University of California noted that organic foods are much higher in antioxidants than traditionally-farmed foods.

"Originally, the question was just really intriguing to me," Mitchell said in a press release after the findings came out. "I found that the higher level of antioxidants is enough to have a significant impact on health and nutrition, and it's definitely changed the way I think about my food."

Sporadic announcements of research such as Mitchell’s has raised consciousness about the benefits of eating organic foods. Authors such as Dr. Joseph Mercola who penned "The Total Health Program," are staunch proponents of an organic diet.

"Scientists found that, compared to rats that ate conventional diets, organically fed rats experienced various health benefits," Mercola touts on his web site. "Researchers found the rats that ate organic or minimally fertilized diets had: improved immune system status compared to rats that ate conventional diet; better sleeping habits; less weight and were slimmer than rats that fed on other diets; and higher vitamin E content in their blood."

Though the research Mercola points to indicates positive effects of organic foods, farmers and scientists are calling for additional research on human subjects. Though the rats’ health improved, the results don’t transfer directly to humans. More and more people, however, are turning to organic foods to address specific health issues and to improve general physical wellness.

In fact, organics are going mainstream. The market for organic foods, according to the Organic Trade Association, has risen to a $14 billion industry. The movement is driven by small businesses, the OTA reports, in that 75 percent of the companies selling organic foods generate less than $5 million annually, and more than half of the companies fall under the $1 million revenue mark.

Previously, only specific health food retailers and some grocery chains carried organic foods, but now big box giant Wal-Mart has invested in a multi-million dollar advertising campaign to tout its new line of organic foods.

One of the problems facing consumers in the organic foods market is the price, sometimes bearing a cost that is 30-50% higher than an identical non-organic product.

Some organic farmers, though, are seeking to change that. Shirley Daughtry, owner of Heritage Organic Farms in Savannah, Ga., actively hopes to bring down the cost of organic foods.

"I want to do it for the children," she says. "Organic foods are so much better for children in keeping them healthy, but I understand that for most families, it’s a cost issue. I want to bring those prices down."

Daughtry operates a box service that is currently only delivering in select locations in the coastal south. She actively avoids competing with more commercial organic food outlets such as Harry’s Farmer’s Market or Whole Foods, but her small revolution is popular. Starting out with just a handful of customers for her $25 case of organic vegetables and fruits, she’s now up to 175 boxes delivered weekly or monthly.

Still, some advocates of organic eating claim that families can currently enjoy the benefits of an organic diet for roughly the same price as is currently spent on a processed food diet.

Writer Colleen Huber did a comparison with a few ground rules of a week of organic foods and a week of processed foods and supplied a grocery tally for each. The shopping trips – remarkably – came within a dollar of each other.

She notes that the key to an organic diet will hinge on how future results come out.

"The biggest savings of the whole-food eating family has yet to be calculated," she writes, "as we consider the difference in medical care needs between whole food eaters on the one hand, and those who will continue eating for decades such chemicals as MSG (a.k.a. hydrolyzed wheat protein and several other names), carcinogens or nerve poisons (a.k.a. pesticides), sugar, aspartame and other sweeteners, as well as margarine and other trans-fatty acids, to name some of the most infamous processed food ingredients. As a wise saying goes, the best reason to eat organic is that pesticides don't know when to stop killing."