PeterB
2005-05-13 02:03:08 UTC
US Consumer Demand For Organic Foods Soaring
By Rick Callahan
Associated Press Writer
5-10-5
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. - Dairy cows munch lazily on a grassy hilltop
overlooking Traders Point Creamery as 23-year-old Marc Murnane strides
into the organic creamery's store in search of chocolate milk - lots of
it.
In short order, he loads 12 one-quart bottles, at $3.50 each, into a
box bound for Chicago, where his girlfriend's father is among the
growing number of Americans who've developed a taste for organic foods.
"He just loves the chocolate milk - and it really is the best stuff
I've ever had," Murnane says, describing the rich blend of sweet milk
from grass-fed cows, organic sugar and cocoa.
The farm northwest of Indianapolis is part of a nationwide move to put
organic foods in consumers' reach.
Nationwide, the market for organic foods has soared from $3.57 billion
in 1997 to $10.38 billion in 2003, according to Organic Trade
Association. The group predicts sales will reach $14.5 billion by the
end of 2005 as Americans buy everything from radishes to beef grown
without conventional pesticides and fertilizers, biotechnology,
antibiotics or growth hormones.
Indiana was late to join the organic food movement, which arose in the
1960s in response to modern chemical farming, but the state is starting
to make up lost ground, said Cissy Bowman, executive director of
Indiana Certified Organic, LLC.
As the state's only government-approved organic certifier, she has
given the stamp of approval to more than 50 Hoosier organic farms and
expects that to double this year.
Herself an organic farmer, Bowman said the organic market has undergone
incredible growth since she began raising organic vegetables 20 years
ago on six acres near the Hendricks County town of Clayton.
"Any food you can think of, you can buy an organic version now. It's
not just that bag of whole wheat flour on the store shelf anymore," she
said.
Traders Point Creamery delivers to about 70 area stores, with weekly
shipments to Chicago-area stores, but demand often outpaces supply,
particularly during the winter and summer.
"The cows can't keep up. We sell pretty much everything we produce,"
said David Robb, the creamery's manager of business development.
Cathy Greene, an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Economic Research Service, said the retail market for
organic foods continues to grow about 20 percent each year.
Most people buy organic out of health concerns, she said. Some want to
support environmentally friendly farms, but for others, it's a quest
for food with superior taste and nutrition.
"Whether the food tastes better or not is kind of subjective, but
whether it's more nutritious(1) is something researchers are just
starting to study," Greene said.
According to the USDA, certified organic cropland in the United States
grew nearly 75 percent between 1997 and 2001, the last year for which
figures are available, and accounted for more than 2.3 million acres in
2001.
The USDA found an estimated 4,175 acres of certified organic cropland
in Indiana in 2001, but Bowman said the 54 organic farms she's
certified in the state account for only about 2,370 acres.
Barbara Haumann, a senior writer with the Organic Trade Association,
said there is no clear gauge of the nation's organic agriculture
industry. "The numbers are quite hazy," she said. "The government just
needs to do some better tracking."
Although organic foods can cost two to three times more than their
conventionally raised alternatives, Corinne Alexander, a Purdue
University assistant professor of agricultural economics, said people,
herself included, are willing to pay.
"I like the idea that right now the organic farmers are being rewarded
with premium prices for their hard work. It's really backbreaking
work," she said.
Traders Point Creamery's 140 acres of pastures are planted with a mix
of grasses and meadow plants that make its milk superior to that
produced by grain-fed cows, said Robb.
The pastures are enriched with natural compost and by tilling under
cover crops. The nutrient-rich droppings from the 60 Brown Swiss dairy
cows also help green the fields, he said.
The fields thrive, Robb said, because they work in concert with nature.
"The soil is really a living entity, and chemicals kill all the good
things in the soil when what we really need to be doing is stimulating
those," he said.
-end-
----------
[1] See Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits,
Vegetables, and Grains, published in The Journal of Alternative and
Complimentary Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001, 161-173. V. Worthington,
2001. Nutrient levels in both organic and conventionally-grown foods
were evaluated by reviewing data from 41 comparative studies on crops
produced with organic matter and inorganic fertilisers. The study
showed that organic crops yield higher average levels of some 21
nutrients analysed. The results were most statistically significant for
Vitamin C (27% more), magnesium (29%), iron (21%) and phosphorus (14%).
By Rick Callahan
Associated Press Writer
5-10-5
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. - Dairy cows munch lazily on a grassy hilltop
overlooking Traders Point Creamery as 23-year-old Marc Murnane strides
into the organic creamery's store in search of chocolate milk - lots of
it.
In short order, he loads 12 one-quart bottles, at $3.50 each, into a
box bound for Chicago, where his girlfriend's father is among the
growing number of Americans who've developed a taste for organic foods.
"He just loves the chocolate milk - and it really is the best stuff
I've ever had," Murnane says, describing the rich blend of sweet milk
from grass-fed cows, organic sugar and cocoa.
The farm northwest of Indianapolis is part of a nationwide move to put
organic foods in consumers' reach.
Nationwide, the market for organic foods has soared from $3.57 billion
in 1997 to $10.38 billion in 2003, according to Organic Trade
Association. The group predicts sales will reach $14.5 billion by the
end of 2005 as Americans buy everything from radishes to beef grown
without conventional pesticides and fertilizers, biotechnology,
antibiotics or growth hormones.
Indiana was late to join the organic food movement, which arose in the
1960s in response to modern chemical farming, but the state is starting
to make up lost ground, said Cissy Bowman, executive director of
Indiana Certified Organic, LLC.
As the state's only government-approved organic certifier, she has
given the stamp of approval to more than 50 Hoosier organic farms and
expects that to double this year.
Herself an organic farmer, Bowman said the organic market has undergone
incredible growth since she began raising organic vegetables 20 years
ago on six acres near the Hendricks County town of Clayton.
"Any food you can think of, you can buy an organic version now. It's
not just that bag of whole wheat flour on the store shelf anymore," she
said.
Traders Point Creamery delivers to about 70 area stores, with weekly
shipments to Chicago-area stores, but demand often outpaces supply,
particularly during the winter and summer.
"The cows can't keep up. We sell pretty much everything we produce,"
said David Robb, the creamery's manager of business development.
Cathy Greene, an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Economic Research Service, said the retail market for
organic foods continues to grow about 20 percent each year.
Most people buy organic out of health concerns, she said. Some want to
support environmentally friendly farms, but for others, it's a quest
for food with superior taste and nutrition.
"Whether the food tastes better or not is kind of subjective, but
whether it's more nutritious(1) is something researchers are just
starting to study," Greene said.
According to the USDA, certified organic cropland in the United States
grew nearly 75 percent between 1997 and 2001, the last year for which
figures are available, and accounted for more than 2.3 million acres in
2001.
The USDA found an estimated 4,175 acres of certified organic cropland
in Indiana in 2001, but Bowman said the 54 organic farms she's
certified in the state account for only about 2,370 acres.
Barbara Haumann, a senior writer with the Organic Trade Association,
said there is no clear gauge of the nation's organic agriculture
industry. "The numbers are quite hazy," she said. "The government just
needs to do some better tracking."
Although organic foods can cost two to three times more than their
conventionally raised alternatives, Corinne Alexander, a Purdue
University assistant professor of agricultural economics, said people,
herself included, are willing to pay.
"I like the idea that right now the organic farmers are being rewarded
with premium prices for their hard work. It's really backbreaking
work," she said.
Traders Point Creamery's 140 acres of pastures are planted with a mix
of grasses and meadow plants that make its milk superior to that
produced by grain-fed cows, said Robb.
The pastures are enriched with natural compost and by tilling under
cover crops. The nutrient-rich droppings from the 60 Brown Swiss dairy
cows also help green the fields, he said.
The fields thrive, Robb said, because they work in concert with nature.
"The soil is really a living entity, and chemicals kill all the good
things in the soil when what we really need to be doing is stimulating
those," he said.
-end-
----------
[1] See Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits,
Vegetables, and Grains, published in The Journal of Alternative and
Complimentary Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001, 161-173. V. Worthington,
2001. Nutrient levels in both organic and conventionally-grown foods
were evaluated by reviewing data from 41 comparative studies on crops
produced with organic matter and inorganic fertilisers. The study
showed that organic crops yield higher average levels of some 21
nutrients analysed. The results were most statistically significant for
Vitamin C (27% more), magnesium (29%), iron (21%) and phosphorus (14%).