Do Rising Food Prices Mean the “…end for organic food as we know it…”?
In the last few months dozens of news reports and commentaries have covered the impact of rising food prices on demand for organic food. Publications and individuals opposed to, or threatened by organic food and farming argue, almost as if in unison, that high prices will erode demand for organic food. They assert that organic food is a niche market for economic elites, and offer the view that the rest of the world, and in particular, the world’s poor, must open their arms to GM foods, plastic and pesticides in order to achieve sustainable food security. Other publications and commentators, including those already sold on organic food and people that feel a need to base statements of fact and opinion on some empirical foundation, point out that there has been no major collapse in interest in, or demand for organic food, at least not yet. Some articles, like the September 11, 2008 piece “The Organic times are a changin’: New Data show that 2008 organic food sales will reach $32.9 billio
