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The Troubles with Organic

Jeff Wells November 18th, 2008

The question of how organic products would fare in a down economy is one that people have been reluctant to answer. A category that has prospered on $5 gallons of milk and $8 packets of lunchmeat, after all, has overcome its share of skepticism in the past.

But the doubts grew and grew, and by late this summer, when Whole Foods reported its disastrous third quarter earnings, the deal seemed pretty much sealed. The latest numbers from marketing firm Mintel show a pronounced decline in sales, and some sources say growth could slow to around 5%.

To counteract the negative vibes, organic advocates have decided to go on the offensive. Yesterday the Organic Trade Association said it would begin an expanded marketing campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of organic, and last week we attended a press event at the Chelsea Art Museum announcing “The Organic Solution”, a joint promotion of the Rodale Institute and The Organic Center. Both campaigns stress the need to address consumer confusion and show the true value of organic.

“Never in recent years has there been as high a level of consumer spending confusion and concern,” noted OTA executive director Christine Bushway.

All this talk about convincing consumers, of bringing them into the right, has always been something that’s bothered me about the organic dialogue. The category’s decline is primarily an economic problem, not one of consumer ignorance. No matter how committed you are to the cause, if you don’t have that $10 to spend on organic marinara sauce then forget about it.

Retailers and shoppers are focused on meal deals, coupons and recipes right now, and they’re in no mood to make any significant changes. So rather than mount an evangelical movement, it seems the organic industry needs to make small adjustments that revolve primarily around people’s everyday needs.

3 Comments to “The Troubles with Organic”

Steven Hoffman Says:

November 19th, 2008 at 9:58 am

Jeff,
Thank you for coming to the event in New York hosted by The Organic Center and Rodale Institute. You know, I can buy organic marinara sauce for $3.99, so I don’t know where you get the $10 figure from in your article above. That kind of overstatement only adds to misperceptions about the price of organic. In a chemically intensive, government subsidized food system, with corn and soybeans predominantly genetically engineered, consumers can turn to certified organic products as a solution to their food safety and health concerns. And organic is addressing consumer needs. Using coupons and shopping sales is a great way to lower the cost of organic, just like lowering the cost of food produced with chemical-intensive and biotechnology-based agriculture, which, by the way, is often subsidized by taxpayer money, and could very well carry longer term health and environmental costs. With a conventional apple containing an average of 3.7 pesticide residues, based on USDA data, that old saying needs to be changed to “it’s the organic apple a day that keeps the doctor away.” The true value of organic–an investment in health and an investment in a healthy environment. Thanks for listening!
Tom Brown Says:

November 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am

The association of the word “organic ” with healthy produce is all but voided by the mainstream media. Every benefit is contradicted by the media and creates confusion in the minds of consumers. The USDA and the FDA should publish the facts and challenge the media to prove their contradictions. Consumers should have confidence in the federal agencies data and understand the media posts anything they feel will promote the media, be it true or false. Example: the media took down the tomato industry and many related tomato processors on bad information about Salmonella and claim it was in the best interest of the public. Aren’t all those farmers, processors and their people “the public”? When the real problem was identified the media spoke breifly and moved on to what ever else they thought would promote the media. the tomato industry still has not recovered and many people have lost all or part due to bad information.
Jeff Wells Says:

November 19th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

Thanks to both of you for commenting, you’ve made some excellent points. Reading over this post again, I realize I may sound anti-organic, and that’s not the case at all. I’m an organic consumer — I believe in the standard, and I try to buy these products when I can. But as someone who makes less than $40,000 a year, I’m also frustrated by how hard it is to fit these items into my $50 weekly grocery budget. I completely understand that much of this boils down to government subsidies and legislation. The current economy certainly isn’t helping things. But it’s also frustrating to constantly hear organic advocates tell me and other consumers that we’re just confused, that we don’t understand the true value of organic foods. I’ll admit that the media can sometimes perpetuate an unfair “elitist” stereotype for organic — but sometimes it does feel like the movement is talking down to consumers.

So I guess what I’m proposing is that, in addition to educating people about the value of organic (there’s definitely a lot), there also should be a sensitivity to the economic realities that come with buying organic. It’s a tough situation for sure, and I hope it doesn’t last. Everyone deserves to be able to buy clean, healthy food.