What Is Organic? Powerful Players Want a Say

November 4, 2005

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Customers at McDonald's restaurants in New England are about to get

something a little different when they order coffee. Through a deal

with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Newman's Own, McDonald's will

soon be serving a coffee that comes from organic beans and is

certified Fair Trade because it meets higher standards in the

treatment of coffee workers.

McDonald's is testing organic coffee from Green Mountain and Newman's

Own in New England.

The move, while still a test in a limited region, reflects a much

broader trend: The growing interest among large food companies in

offering organic foods along with their standard products.

General Mills markets the Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen brands; Kraft

owns Back to Nature and Boca Foods, which makes soy burgers. Within

the last few years, Dean Foods, the dairy giant, has acquired Horizon

Organic and White Wave, maker of Silk organic soymilk. Groupe Danone,

the French dairy company, owns Stonyfield Farm.

Wal-Mart wants in, too. " We are particularly excited about organic

food, the fastest-growing category in all of food, " Lee Scott,

Wal-Mart's chief executive, said at a recent shareholder meeting.

" It's a great example of how Wal-Mart can appeal to a wider range of

customers. "

But as organic food enters the mainstream, evolving from an idealistic

subculture rooted in images of granola and Birkenstocks, a bitter

debate has ensued over what exactly the word " organic " should mean.

And now Congress is jumping into the controversy.

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