Organic Popular Despite High Price

Despite rising food prices, organic foods are becoming more and more popular with consumers. People prefer organic products because of their nutritional value and safety over conventionally grown foods. However, these benefits come with a cost of over 50 percent more, especially for organic produce.

Organic foods are grown without the use of pesticides. While produce grown with pesticides is still considered safe to eat, the long term effects of such chemicals are still unknown. Still, the high prices of these foods make them unattainable for many consumers. Those on strict food budgets often consider how the benefits fit the price. To help make these decisions, a nonprofit consumer research group based in Washington D.C. named the Environmental Working Group, has studied the pesticide exposure of various fruits and vegetables to see how they measure up against their organic equals.

The group found that produce with thick skins were better blockers of pesticides than those with thin skins. In terms of fruit, apples, cherries, nectarines, peaches, pears and strawberries are better purchased as pesticides. Apples especially have the highest pesticide levels due to the crevices on the top and bottom of the fruit. Bananas, avocados and grapes, however, do not have much pesticide exposure, organic or not. This is attributed to the fact that bananas grow high off the ground where insects can’t get to them and avocadoes have thick skins.

Vegetables that are better if grown organic include peppers, celery, spinach and potatoes. Peppers, though they have thick skins, are hard to remove pesticide residue from. The opposite is true of potatoes, whose thin skins make them susceptible to pesticides. Celery and spinach have small openings where pesticides can get through along with water. However, cabbage, broccoli and peas have the lowest pesticide content of conventionally grown vegetables. This is due to their being grown in colder weather and peas being protected by their pods.

Despite these benefits, now is a strange time for organic to be growing in popularity. High oil prices are driving up the already high prices of these foods. In Minnesota, organic milk can cost up to $8 a gallon and $2 for a dozen of eggs. Coupon use is said to be growing for the first time in 16 years and people are eating out less and buying store brand products more. Another contributor to more practical spending habits could be if the unemployment numbers rise.

However, the United States still has some of the cheapest food prices in the world. About 13 percent of its income comes from food consumption, including buying groceries and eating out. The average family buys about $916.30 in groceries per month. However, revenues at the Organic Valley company were up 26 percent to $432.5 million last year. They expect to make $539 million this year.