LAT: Demand for Organic Food Outstrips Supply

[DeepModem Mom]

Demand for Organic Food Outstrips Supply
By LIBBY QUAID, AP Food and Farm Writer
July 6, 2006

WASHINGTON -- America's appetite for organic food is so strong that supply just can't keep up with demand. Organic products still have only a tiny slice, about 2.5 percent, of the nation's food market. But the slice is expanding at a feverish pace.

Growth in sales of organic food has been 15 percent to 21 percent each year, compared with 2 percent to 4 percent for total food sales....

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Mainstream supermarkets, eyeing the success of organic retailers such as Whole Foods, have rushed to meet demand. The Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and SuperValu Inc., which owns Albertson's LLC, are among those selling their own organic brands. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said earlier this year it would double its organic offerings.

The number of organic farms -- an estimated 10,000 -- is also increasing, but not fast enough. As a result, organic manufacturers are looking for ingredients outside the United States in places like Europe, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa....

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The dilemma of how to fill the gap between organic supply and demand is part of a long-running debate within America's booming organic industry. For many enthusiasts, organic is about more than the food on their plates; it's a way to improve the environment where they live and help keep small-scale farmers in business....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top14jul06,0,1558257.story

[FloridaPat]

1. People just don't like lightening bugs and pesticides in their food.

[Tsiyu]

2. You have no idea how much this cracks me up

An ad agency was wooing me and wanted my "predictions" on emerging trends.

They suddenly shut off communication when I predicted that organic produce, alternative medicines and spicy foods were the NBT.

I doubted my own logic for a minute. Then I went, "Nah. Watch and see."

:rofl:

Edit because I really can spell...:blush:

[Cha]

3. I've been eating only Organic

food since the late '70's and endured many a snicker but it only made sense to me. I'm really glad that it's going full blown..I hope more people will tell mansanto where they can stick it.