Dr. Mercola May 21 2003 2,747 views
While organic food is often promoted as grown by small farmers, organic food is becoming big business as more manufacturers are promoting it with a large-scale mentality.
Indeed, organic food production has become more mainstream, and supermarkets now have whole sections devoted to the products, which are grown without conventional pesticides, biotechnology, antibiotics or hormones.
Organic food sales reflect this, having increased from $3.5 billion in 1996 to more than $9 billion in 2001.
Food giants such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are also breaking into the organic food market. Frito-Lay, which is owned by PepsiCo, has begun selling organic salsa and blue and yellow corn chips with the brand name Tostitos.
In 2001, Coca-Cola purchased the beverage line Odwalla and is selling organic carrot, apple and orange juices.
Additionally, the spice producer McCormick & Co. has been selling organic spices, including thyme and rosemary, since 2002.
However, organic farmers still play a role in the organic market as some of the large processors purchase all of their ingredients from such farmers.
Along with the change in organic food manufacturers, the organic consumer is also changing, according to experts. Families with young children are now the biggest consumers of organic products.
Mindfully.org May 7, 2003
Don’t be fooled. Just because something is organic doesn’t necessarily make it better for you. When you start seeing organic Coke you can fully appreciate this. Sugar is sugar is sugar no matter how pure it is.
The same thing goes for organic whole wheat bread. Both organic bread and organic sugar contribute to chronic degenerative disease in the majority of people who use them as I discuss in my new book, The No-Grain Diet.
Another example is commercial organic milk. Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamin B12, and vitamin B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer. This is true whether the milk is organic or not.
Raw milk, on the other hand, is a completely different, extremely beneficial food, and Sally Fallon has compiled a Web site that provides further information about this important food source.
In terms of vegetables, organic is certainly better. But, don’t use this as an excuse to avoid non-organic vegetables. If for whatever reason you can’t obtain organic vegetables, non-organic vegetables are much healthier than no vegetables at all.
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