The Decision Between Organic And Conventional Foods

Prices in stores are very competitive and people typically go for “name brand” foods. Although, prices are competitive they still vary by brand name, size, and quantity. Organic foods are typically more expensive because of more labor required to grow the produce, organic certification cost, etc. “Many smalls farms can be certified for approximately $750 the first year and between $375 and $575 in later years” (CCOF 1). Certification costs are expensive, thus making the retail price of the produce higher. Many factors are contributed when growing organic foods. In stores consumers will typically pay around $2.82 for a pound of non-organic tomatoes compared to $4.05 per pound for organic tomatoes. In the case of non-organic red peppers they generally go for $2.76 per pound

Today an increasing desire from consumers is to have healthy and organic product offerings. While

Author, Steven Shapin, in his essay, “What Are You Buying When You Buy Organic,” presents controversy reasons to buying organic food. Shapin’s purpose includes defending his point that organic food proves not always having the best results. He justifies his approach to buying organic foods with an argumentative appeal to the necessity of buying these products. Shapin questions the value of organic foods in larger organizations by targeting the industry, health, and the virtue.

Organic farming began just as the effects of the Great Depression waned in the United States, and has seen a dramatic increase in popularity most recently (AG). The sales of organic food increased by about twenty percent a year throughout the nineteen nineties (Marcus). That is over ten times the rate of increase that conventional food experienced during the same period of time (Harris). As recently as twenty eleven, about seventy-eight percent of American families admitted to routinely purchasing organic food (Organic). Organic food sales jumped from three point five million in nineteen ninety-seven, to thirty-one million in twenty eleven (Organic). However, while organic food may seem better than conventional food, numerous studies have shown that it is not distinguishably more healthful, nutritious, palatable, or safe.

Personally, I am fortunate to live in an area that has a fairly wide array of organic foods. There is a healthy mix of large supermarkets and small, independent grocers that sell organic foods.

On the other hand, costs do rise when purchasing organic, locally sourced food because big food sellers like Wal-mart can afford to sell at lower prices. In response, Sara Vinson of Yellow Hen Farm in Covington recognizes that these small farms are “not trying to compete with Wal-mart” in view of higher prices for local farm produce. Higher prices make sense, though, as more manpower has been put into organically grown food than industrially produced products. Often, weeding and harvesting will require hours of labor since pesticide use is not allowed on an organic farm.

Today, consumer can easily find free-cage chicken or organic baby potatoes at Walmart. All kind of non-GMO products in all kind of grocery store. And there is a new competition from fast-growing natural grocery which is Sprouts coming straight to Whole Foods’ market segment. Sprouts targets customers that will respond to a lower-pricing strategy for organic food and they went head to head with Whole Foods. These players have put extremely heavy weight

As much as Americans always talk about getting fit and eating healthy, the majority are not able to afford those select foods. Many people see organic food as a big dollar sign. “For as long as I can remember, “organic” has been synonymous with affluence and conscious consumption”(McMillan).

Nowadays, people are more concern about the healthy lifestyles as well as the environmental sustainability. “If people believe that the food is healthier and they are doing something good for themselves, they are willing to invest a bit more, particularly as they get older” – as Hollie Shaw said. It can be seen that the market for organic and natural foods is a potential market: Organic foods and beverages were available in nearly every food category in 2014 and were available in over 90 percent of U.S. retail food stores (is used to be 75% in 2008). Food labeled “organic” accounted for about $35 billion across North America in

Some may argue that organic foods are hard to find in local supermarkets. However they are incorrect because foods once only sold at farmers markets and health food stores are now found in mainstream food stores. According to organicconsumer.org over the past 15 years there has been over a 20% increase in the organic food market. Consumers can also find more than just organic produce nowadays, such as crackers and chocolate, to salad dressing and cereal. An increase

No matter where we go as consumers, we are faced with an endless amount of variety when it comes to product choices. Within the last several years the organic food market has become a popular trend among Americans. In today’s supermarkets, organic foods are everywhere, as they are no longer limited to only upscale retailers. Large corporations are jumping on the bandwagon and bringing the organic industry to the mainstream market, making the products readily available to the average consumer. The movie Food Inc. portrays this when the film shows Wal-Mart transitioning into this industry as it is flourishing with the recent health campaigns. In 2013 the organic food industry grew to $35.1 billion dollars, an 11.5% increase compared to the previous year ("Market Analysis"). Consumers seem to believe that organic foods have more health benefits, such as nutritional value, environmental benefits, and also take account for animal welfare. So what is the truth about organic food and why is it becoming so popular? It seems as though while organic food maybe the better choice, most consumers do not have a clear understanding on what organic food actually is and what it means.

Walmart has always striven to stick to its motto of “Always Low Prices”. Their brand name brings up connotations of good quality products at cheap prices. Walmart has been America’s largest food retailer and has demonstrated their ability to sell products at much lower prices yet still yield a profit. Recently, the U.S. market for organic foods has been growing at a rate of almost 20% per year, and demand for organic products has been rising upwards very quickly. With this potential for large gains, Walmart’s executive vice president Douglas Degn has been questioning whether or not organic foods should be sold at Walmart.

In recent years, many people don’t go more than a few days without hearing about organic foods in one way or another, whether it be through the media, friends or the numerous labels at the grocery store. For me, whenever someone brings up organic foods, they always put them on a pedestal of health caused by people’s recent disgust with the industrialized way we produce foods, which, to be fair, is not unfounded. I had assumed it was a bunch of gibberish, however, the data suggests a more ambiguous answer.

The organic food industry is booming. Demand for organic food is higher than ever, according to the Organic Trade Association’s recent report. American’s spent a whopping $43.3 billion on organic food in 2015, an 11 percent increase over last year’s record. And yet 5.6 billion pounds of pesticides are used around the world each year.

In order for advertising to be effective for the organic food market the advertiser first must have an understanding of the consumer needs. In today’s society there is more information available for consumers, and this is shaping their understanding of the products they are buying. According to the Journal of Advertising this concept seems even more prevalent because of “the green market for ‘green’ products and, in particular, organic food products, where exponential growth has recently been observed.” (Ioannis, Carlson, & Muehling, 2014). This would account for United States sale growth of over 400 million dollars annually with the help of over 300 certified organic products annually. Organic marketers do not see this trend slowing down anytime