Look Whose owning the Organic companies!

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More Organic Than Thou

Seth Lubove, 02.14.05

From Forbes.com

 

Whole foods has gotten rich off of peddling organic goodness to the masses. The halo of healthfulness carries a high price: A can of regular minestrone soup goes for $1.66 at a Ralph's grocery in Los Angeles, while the organic version costs 60% more at Whole Foods. The thriving chain's feat is all the more impressive given the sometimes bitter debate over organic food--how it should be defined and regulated and whether it is any more healthful, truly, than conventional fare. Even organic promoters have a hard time agreeing on the term.

 

For shoppers who buy organic, " If you think you're saving the planet and protecting children from insidious chemicals and diseases, that's a fantasy, " contends Alex Avery, whose Center for Global Food Issues is among several groups challenging the disputed science behind organic foods.

 

In " Nature's Toxic Tools: The Organic Myth of Pesticide-Free Farming " and other screeds that equate " food fanatics " with terrorists, Avery attacks the holier-than-thou posturing that has demonized nonorganic foods. Avery, in turn, is blasted by organic promoters for parroting his equally outspoken father, Dennis, author of Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic, originally published in 1995.

 

Avery and other health-food foes cite ambiguous pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture saying that organic food isn't necessarily any safer or more nutritious. But the USDA attests only to the way the food is grown, handled and processed. The organic industry itself adds to the confusion with frequent finger-pointing at purported violators of organic holy writ. Enthusiasts argue over such minutiae as whether yeast and fishmeal can be used in organic products. Policed by outfits such as the Organic Consumers Association, founded by associates of environmental activist Jeremy Rifkin (read: Chicken Little, if you're in the old-line food industry), the industry is quick to criticize the USDA for any perceived backpedaling on organic standards.

 

Now organic acolytes have set their sights on the big companies that quietly have moved into the health-food biz. Processed-food behemoths such as Dean Foods, General Mills, Heinz and ConAgra Foods don't broadcast the fact that they own Horizon Organic Dairy, Cascadian Farms, Hain Celestial, Lightlife Foods and other well-known natural and organic brands. But on the dubious premise that big companies are somehow watering down organic rules, self-appointed consumer groups are exposing on their Web sites the real corporate owners behind the scenes.

 

Even Whole Foods has become successful enough to come under fire from the purists. " Whole Foods dismantles local food webs and doesn't foster what the organic movement is about, " complained Paul Hawken, the founder of catalog purveyor Smith & Hawken, in a recent online interview. Oh, Smith & Hawken is now owned by $2 billion (2004 sales) pesticide and gardening giant Scotts.