| When your college-age son reminds you that your | | | | * Does The Critter's Organic Meal Mean The |
| supermarket foods are "dead" and that you're | | | | Steak You Eat Is Organic? |
| simply supporting government-subsidized | | | | What about "organic beef"? Turns out that beef |
| monoculture farming practices, what do you do? | | | | you buy that qualifies as "organic" merely reflects |
| Is the answer "natural and organic food"...but what | | | | that the beast was confined to a fenced dry lot |
| does this mean, and what would you get if you | | | | and ate certified organic food grains. Where's the |
| convert to it? | | | | grass and pasture? Apparently, the actual grass |
| When does a difference matter? Who hasn't been | | | | and pasture depicted on the package are not |
| intrigued during a shopping visit when you read | | | | necessary to qualify as legitimately organic food, |
| one packet where "free range chickens" have | | | | under FDA packaging regulations. |
| been "sustainably farmed", while the other packet | | | | * True Organic - Complex Rather Than Simplified. |
| simply shows the price and pound details for what | | | | In the rare case when a small farm carries a |
| must be the "alternative chicken" produced by | | | | mixed stock of animals such as chickens, pigs, |
| industrial farming and mass distribution means? | | | | turkeys and cattle and then truly raises these |
| How do you choose? Is one more "chicken" than | | | | animals on sun-based pasture grasses utilizing an |
| the other? | | | | organized pasture rotation plan, then you're |
| Does the carton showing happy cows grazing on | | | | getting as close to organic as Mother Nature |
| verdant pasture settings along with the words " | | | | allows. No pesticides are necessary, no herbicides, |
| organic food" make you stop, think and buy? And | | | | virtually no antibiotics occur. Why? By exploiting |
| what about the buyer's dilemma when one brand | | | | the cow-ness of cows, the natural |
| of organic milk differentiates itself from | | | | mob-and-grazing tendencies of bovines...adding the |
| competitor organic milks because the milk is | | | | co-evolved relationship of scavenging fowl like |
| ultrapasteurized...and in the same food case | | | | turkeys and chickens which eat worms and |
| another organic "raw" milk claims that it's better | | | | waste matter...you get as close to a "free lunch" |
| for you, fresher because it hasn't undergone any | | | | as is possible. Wastes from one species become |
| pasteurization? | | | | breakfast for another. So, who picks up the |
| What's Meant By Natural And Organic Food? | | | | energy tab, when petrochemicals are avoided? |
| For one, natural and organic food certainly now | | | | Where does the energy come from? The sun. |
| means very big business, with producer networks | | | | Pros And Cons Of Organic Food. |
| extending from Argentina to Calgary to California | | | | To the extent that the farm land producing your |
| and beyond, with tens of thousands of retail | | | | food did not use the raft of petrochemical |
| outlets, and a market value estimated at $11 | | | | fertilizers, herbicides and drugs, and that the |
| billion. No other food segment grows sales as | | | | workers did not inhale carcinogenic compounds, |
| quickly as organic food. | | | | and that the land's fertility and complexity were |
| * The Packaging Narrative. | | | | not compromised, then the benefit of organic |
| The story-line depicted on organic food packaging | | | | food remains indirect and frankly invisible. |
| conjures up childhood bed time stories, where | | | | * The Moral Feel Good Aspect. |
| peacefully bovine animals pass their lives away on | | | | When you buy into the perception and product |
| idyllic farm pastoral settings. You think "hmmm | | | | reality of organic food you feel better about |
| these must be safe foods, communing with | | | | yourself, and somewhere some piece of land and |
| Mother Earth" and so you buy more in a mood of | | | | its farmers are also a bit healthier. All good stuff. |
| culture rejection of modernity and Big | | | | * Pricing Pains For Consumers. |
| Agribusiness interests. But, is this view valid or | | | | Feeling confused? The pros and cons of organic |
| simply naïve? | | | | food do nothing to reconcile $4.00 plus prices per |
| * The Reality. | | | | pound for tomatoes, or $18.00 per pound prices |
| The organic food reality? Think regular industrial | | | | for beef, or $2.70 price for milk being sold next |
| business style operations. Big farms and 24/7 | | | | to $1.80 containers. |
| growing operations selling to big warehouses | | | | * Taste Superiority? |
| demanding consistent product features, reliable | | | | Will organic food necessarily taste better? No. |
| delivery, low prices, mechanization, just like the | | | | Freshness and delivery timing have a far greater |
| regular industrial food "house brands". The | | | | impact on taste, so the local end of the industrial |
| pressure for "product standardization" and financial | | | | food chain can still "whup" the organic boys, if the |
| survival rapidly morphs any small scale farming | | | | food is significantly fresher by the time you buy. |
| ideal into a business-as-usual operation. True, the | | | | * Nutritionally Better? |
| "marketing spin" and the adroit use of the organic | | | | The jury's out on the issue of nutritional |
| food labeling "narratives" seems to be passing | | | | completeness. Bottom line, there's no way to |
| along some tidbit of information about the food's | | | | prove any particular superiority of organic food |
| origins to buyers. However, is this merely a | | | | over regular store produce. |
| distinction without a difference? | | | | Organic Pet Food. |
| Benefit Of Organic Food- There's More Than | | | | Organic dog food, its cousin organic cat food and |
| What Meets The Eye. | | | | organic bird food are only three classes of |
| If the benefit of organic food has to do somehow | | | | specially produced foodstuffs for family pets. If |
| with how it's raised, or produced, then what | | | | you're buying pet food from a major national |
| explains the organic food benefit of | | | | retailer, then you're buying-in to the industrial food |
| ultrapasteurized milk which clearly has lost | | | | chain. You'll pay higher prices. Your pet's food |
| nutritional value due to the high heat processing? | | | | might be better...you'll certainly feel better about |
| Answer emerges from the business reality that | | | | serving it. But, is it really making a difference? |
| the product is sold over long distances, therefore | | | | * Simple Alternative To Organic Pet Food. |
| requires big-time shelf life and stability. | | | | Resolve the confusion. Why not cook up rice, add |
| Transportation logistics converts to a "buyer's | | | | raw eggs and shells, plus break up a multi-vitamin |
| benefit" all with the stroke of a pen. | | | | into your dog or cat's food? |