The New Appetite For Organic Foods
Thursday, February 09, 2006SUSIE GHARIB: The organic food sector is growing by leaps and bounds, a $15 billion industry expanding by 20 percent each year. Just as more Americans are turning to organically grown products, some consumer watchdogs are raising concerns about just how organic these products really are. Tonight, in our monthly home economist series, Brett Graff takes a look.
BRETT GRAFF, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Pediatrician and homeopath Dr. Bruce Eisenberg recommends his patients eat organic foods. He says pesticides and growth hormones are bad for everyone, but particularly kids.
DR. BRUCE EISENBERG, PEDIATRICIAN: There`s more studies being done, but it could affect their nervous system as they`re growing, developing quickly. And just in case, I tell my patients, try as much organic fruits and vegetables as possible.
GRAFF: Like Eisenberg`s young patients, the organic food industry is growing each year. The Organic Consumer`s Association says Americans are buying more organically grown groceries. I`m one of them. My family`s diet now includes organic eggs that each week costs us $4.09 each week; A conventional dozen sells costs $1.06. Now I`ll do the math and hope my husband isn`t watching. He`s skeptical about the difference, although not skeptical enough to go to the supermarket each week. But by year`s end, we`ll spend $160 more on eggs alone. Add in the increased cost of organic milk, meat and fruit and it gets pretty pricey.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The thing that deters me are the pesticides and the antibiotics. And for me, it`s worth paying the extra money to know that I`m getting clean produce and clean meat.
GRAFF: That`s the exact attitude attracting retail giants such as Costco, which has its own organic brand of milk and peanut butter. Major supermarkets also sell their own organic lines and organic products from major food producers like Kraft, General Mills and Gerber.
SCOTT VAN WINKLE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, CANACCORD ADAMS: Now we`ve seen that the term that I use industrialization of the organic infrastructure, and what we`re seeing is larger companies going into the production, manufacturing, marketing, retailing, in every respect, because they see a $15 billion category growing 20 percent a year.
GRAFF: With more products on the market, some consumer watchdogs are concerned about what is considered organic. Anne Malka`s organic grocery carries 4,000 products, including produce both grown locally and frozen by a General Mills subsidiary. She`s concerned about organic food labeling.
ANNIE MALKA, OWNER, DELICIOUS ORGANICS: The big companies really care about bottom line and they`ve proven that with us, to us by the ingredients that they put in their products right now.
GRAFF: But some industry analysts say producers wouldn`t dare break the trust of their typically well-educated and affluent customers for fear of losing their business. It would be an economic irony though if the same consumer demand for wholesome foods became the force that made them less wholesome. Brett Graff, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, home economist.
