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Organics May Soon Be Too Costly For Most Consumers
Let the irony of healthy food becoming only accessible to the rich not pass unnoticed.
In the past decade, organic food has moved into the mainstream, as more and more consumers have gotten creeped out by the use of growth hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, chemical fertilizers and all other sorts of unsavory, potentially carcinogenic things that go into conventional food products. The rising demand for organic food has even pushed Wal-Mart into the organics game; recently, the retail giant struck fear into the hearts of small organics suppliers by announcing a plan to fill its shelves with organic produce, meat, and dairy.But the recent spike in food costs may curb the growing demand for organics. According to a Newsweek story, rising energy and commodity prices could drive healthy, organic fare beyond the reach of many consumers.
A gallon of conventional milk can cost as little as $2.99; meanwhile, the privilege of consuming milk that is free of unhealthy additives can run consumers up to $7 dollars a gallon.
The price hikes may discourage all but the most well-heeled shoppers from buying organics. As the article reports, only 27 percent of shoppers surveyed thought organics were worth paying extra, even though most considered organic food healthier.
Source: alternet.org
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Comments (7)
organic free range chicken
pipsyq has contributed a photo to this story.
Guess you have to balance health costs against the increased costs of all food, including organic. Rising fuel raises the prices of everything! Some supermarkets have been stocking organics for a long time now. Best bet is buy local, according to 'Greenies'. Less miles, means less gas and fresher food.
I wholeheartedly agree, local is the way to go.
Local organic fruit and vegetables on sale outside the Hornbeam Centre, Walthamstow in London.
London Permaculture has contributed a photo to this story.
We should insist our local food be organic and fair trade (e.g. fair price). 'Local' in and of itself is a rather weak alternative. My home is .5km from a Kraft-owned (meaning Altria aka Philip Morris Ltd.) cookie plant but I would not consider the purchase of those cookies as local food. Also, energy used in food transportation is less than what is used in food preparation. Thus, we cannot be too reliant on the food miles argument. Anyway, just some food for thought.
Scorchez has contributed a photo to this story.
It seems that all food costs are going up, organic or not. I buy local organic stuff when I can, and ordinary local stuff when I can't, for the sake of the environment.
go_greener_oz has contributed a photo to this story.
I believe that not only is "organic" food becoming far too expensive, I also believe that the food industry is using the classification far too widely. There are little to no regulations on labelling a food organic, so who's to say that when the food industry gets greedy they convert all their labels (not necessarily products) to claiming organic content, in order to cut a larger profit? Also, many "organic" companies are still owned by large "non-organic" parent companies, so supporting small organizations by purchasing "organic" is often a facade.
The Girl in the Picture has contributed a photo to this story.