More on Organics

Bill mentioned that organic has been thoroughly conventionalized. That is particularly true for the processing sector. Here is my most recent chart of acquisitions and strategic alliances made by the top 30 food processors in North America. For a higher resolution version, see http://www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html and download the linked pdf. If you look at the dates, you'll see that nearly all of this activity occurred in 1997 or later. That was the year that the USDA released its first draft of a national organic standard (infamous for its allowance of irradiation, transgenics and sewage sludge, but a clear signal that the USDA was finally implementing the regulatory powers it was granted in the 1990 authorizing legislation). The timing of the entry of large corporations gives a lot of support to Bill's reservations about the involvement of the state.

Most acquisitions of major organic brands occurred before 2002, when the standard was completely phased-in. There have been some holdouts that remained independent, but they are the exceptions - willing to take on the difficult challenge of competing with the likes of General Mills and Dean Foods. The latest acquisitions are therefore of more recent start-ups, all established in 2001 or 2002, during the phase-in of a national standard. Examples include Dagoba (chocolate) by Hershey’s, Bear Naked (granola) by Kellogg, Alexia Foods (frozen foods) by ConAgra, and most recently, Larabar (energy bars) by General Mills. Another example is Coca-Cola's 40% equity stake in Honest Tea. Some of the founders of these companies claim their original intention was not to sell out, but I have heard from others who have stated that they went into the business looking for an "exit strategy."

Here's a quote from Bob Scowcroft, former director of California Certified Organic Farmers and current director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. "We're only 2 percent of the economy, so we can't start cannibalizing each other on size and economies of scale. We should be in solidarity with all products entering the stream of commerce that are certified organic. When we get to 40 or 50 percent of the economy, then we'll be ready to work on issues of food security and distance of travel. Not that we shouldn't be thinking about that now, but it should not cause conflict between us." (Coffield, 2002; Natural Foods Merchandiser).

Should there be more conflict over these issues? Should there be attention to issues of scale even very early on when establishing alternatives? Or should we deal with one issue at a time and celebrate the increasing success of organics in reducing synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use?

-Phil