The Expanding Organic Grocery Scene

Image Gallery Earl Richardson

By Mother Earth News Editors

It's a great time to be an organic food shopper, whether you're new to organics or a veteran devotee. Since 2002, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations for organic foods, which set production and handling standards that all food labeled "organic" must meet, went into effect, the organic food business has been booming. Growing concerns about toxic pesticides, inhumane treatment of livestock animals, E. coli outbreaks and mad cow disease continue to fuel the growth, as does people's desire to support a more eco-friendly food chain. (Next issue, we'll bring you an article about yet another reason to buy organic—the declining vitamin and mineral content of conventional produce.)

More and more supermarkets are expanding their organic sections and moving those products to more prominent store positions. (For organic brands to look for, see list, Page 77.) Local food co-ops are featuring a wider range of products than ever before, and they are buying from local producers whenever they can. There are even growing chains of natural foods supermarkets: Whole Foods has 146 stores in 27 states and Canada, and Wild Oats has 101 locations in 25 states and Canada.

Food industry giants, including Mars and General Mills, have purchased smaller organic companies and introduced their organic brands to many mainstream shoppers, while additional small producers in this country, and many others, are starting new organic companies, often dedicated to artisan-style, high-quality organic production on a modest scale. In either case, everybody wins—more wholesome, flavorful organic products are being produced and sold, more land is being farmed sustainably and more livestock animals are being raised humanely.

Many of these new, premium organic products offer extraordinary tastes. A few months ago at MOTHER EARTH NEWS, we tasted several kinds of organic soybeans and discovered how much better black soybeans taste than the more-common yellow types. And our favorite cookie now is the Newman's Own Organics Fig Newman.

Some items are more expensive than standard fair, but you get what you pay for, right? Foods bringing that rare, homegrown flavor back into our favorite recipes are worth a premium price whether they're available in our supermarkets, online or at a local farm. Some of these products come from just down the road and others come from half-a-world away. Although we normally encourage you to buy as locally as you can, we've found that some of the topnotch imports remind us of how good our U.S. food can, and should, be.