In a good news / bad news situation, demand for organic food is greater than supply in the US, and organic manufacturers are turning abroad for what they need.
America's appetite for organic food is so strong that supply just can't keep up with demand. Organic products still have only a tiny slice, about 2.5 percent, of the nation's food market. But the slice is expanding at a feverish pace.
Growth in sales of organic food has been 15 percent to 21 percent each year, compared with 2 percent to 4 percent for total food sales.
...The number of organic farms — an estimated 10,000 — is also increasing, but not fast enough. As a result, organic manufacturers are looking for ingredients outside the United States in places like Europe, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa.
It's good news, of course, that the demand is growing like that. Bad news, on the other hand, that some of that organic food needs to be transported thousands of miles to pick up the slack (not to mention the missed opportunity - it least in the short run - to support local small farms).
It also makes me a little wary that it might lead to more of a push on what organic actually means (easier standards = easier to meet the standards = more "organic" product on the market).
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