The organic food movement is becoming a victim of its own success. On the one hand, demand for organic products continues to grow, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A new study produced by the USDA’s Economic Research Service shows that sales of organic foods leaped from $3.6 billion in 1997 to more than $21 billion in 2008. But sales figures could have been even higher had producers been able to keep up with demand.
In 2007, 57% of handlers (those who move food from the farm to the store) reported having trouble getting hold of sufficient amounts of organic products sought by consumers. Three years earlier the number was 46%. Likewise, the number of reported “critical shortages” rose from 13% to 20% from 2004 to 2007.
-Noel Brinkerhoff