July 2006 newsletter

Organic Food Goes Discount

By now most who follow either the business or food sections of the daily paper have seen the hot news of mid-May. Wal-Mart is going organic. At this late date most if not all the initial hype and accompanying discussion, geared largely to the supposed benefits now coming to the organic food market brought by the entry of such a retail heavy-weight, have faded from memory. We are left waiting for the machinery of Wal-Mart to begin the large-scale rollout of mass-market organic foodstuffs, all the while wondering whether or not to address a topic faded from both headlines and memory.

Will Wal-Mart's arrival help or hurt the organic movement and the concepts it embodies? According to the Seattle consulting firm Hartman Group and its president Harvey Hartman, "What Wal-Mart has done is legitimized the market. All these companies who thought organics [were] a niche product now realize that it has an opportunity to become a big business" [1]. Has that been the bane of organic food and its production for the last 30 odd years only now being shed - it was simply and sorely in need of legitimization? Does it require a marketing giant actively pointing out an opportunity for businessmen and women, some of them the very same hard-working farmers who bring organic products to the market, for them to see an opportunity so long knocking at the door? Evidently.

With what will our current visions of dancing organic sugarplums brought forth at conveniently low prices ultimately be replaced? Among apparent offerings soon to hit the shelves, Kellogg is developing organic versions of its Rice Krispies and Frosted Mini Wheats; Kraft is developing an organic version of its macaroni and cheese. Both companies have undertaken development of these products reportedly based on their perception of pent-up public demand for organic foods. At Wal-Mart's behest other suppliers including General Mills and Pepsi have begun developing organic versions of various products. Any word as to what General Mills or Pepsi may have in the offing so far remains unavailable [1]. One is left to wonder... organic soda pop?

Let them eat... organic cake

The last 3 decades have seen frequent and regular changes in medical establishment opinion concerning just what constitutes healthy eating. No sooner is the final word on healthy eating sent down when we turn around to find a new food pyramid, we hear fat is bad, we hear low-fat is bad, we should consume large quantities of protein, we should avoid protein, make sure to get lots of carbohydrates, avoid carbohydrates as you would avoid the plague.

"Organic foods" along the lines of the anticipated offerings from Kellogg and Kraft Foods will only confuse and mislead. The largest group falling into this trap will be those least likely to recognize it for what it is. Trapped will be those for the first time seeking healthy organic alternatives to what has become the standard American, and increasingly worldwide, diet. It will be those having little or nothing beyond the usual Madison Avenue blitz guiding them in any attempted move toward healthy eating habits. Organic Rice Krispies are still just that; Rice Krispies, rice stripped of its hull, where most of the nutritive value is found, puffed, dosed with sugar, partially hydrogenated oil, artificial flavorings, preservatives. An organic version of macaroni and cheese is still just that; macaroni product, wheat stripped of its hull, where most of its nutritive value is found, then ground, mixed with binding agents, possibly had some vitamins and minerals added back in to make it "healthy" and allow it to be called "enriched" under USDA regulations, then extruded into nice little elbow shaped pieces. According to current labeling requirements you may not list any water content in a food product as organic. This leaves us consuming what if we are to believe in organic soda pop - organic high fructose corn syrup? Even in minimal quantities the consumption of high fructose corn syrup does not lead to a healthy diet. The corn syrup may have started life as organically grown corn; its having done so does not change anything in this particular equation. Food is not healthy based on ownership of an "organic nature" casually measured out in quarter teaspoon increments as one would measure vanilla extract into a bowl of cake mix.

* * * *

The standard grievances against Wal-Mart are well known. There is no particular need or purpose in reproducing a laundry list of them here. We are, almost to a person, universally aware of Wal-Mart's unending drive to bring low prices to the consumer, prices lower than those offered last month, prices lower than those offered last week. The sheer size to which Wal-Mart has grown, the inherent ability such size has given it to dictate what it will pay a supplier are likewise well documented. The pressure Wal-Mart brings to bear on suppliers to continually lower prices allowing it to in turn continually lower prices may, on some superficial level, provide a short-term benefit to the consumer. What benefits, if any, does this continual squeezing bring to any supplier - particularly in the case at hand, the organic market Wal-Mart now enters?

A supplier has employees to pay. Additionally whether it is a fabrication plant producing disposable ballpoint pens or it happens to be such things as a tractor, a plow, perhaps milking equipment, a supplier has infrastructure to maintain. And yes - we do live in a free market. Any particular supplier is, in theory, free to offer any or all of their products through outlets not including Wal-Mart. The sheer size of Wal-Mart, however, gives it unprecedented ability to lean on suppliers in the pursuit of continually lowering prices. Just how big is Wal-Mart? Its 2005 net quarterly sales were roughly equal to the 2005 total net sales of Home Depot, its nearest rival in the retailing sector. In merchandising Wal-Mart exceeds the combined sizes of Nestlé, Kroger, Proctor & Gamble, Costco and Target [2]. With Wal-Mart's reach, choosing not to enter into a supplier relationship with the company may be little more than a slow suicide as market share through other retailers gradually evaporates over time. By the very same token choosing to enter a supplier relationship with the company can, and very well may, be equally destructive. The business landscape is dotted with both current and former giants in the consumer products sector who have come away from the experience changed in ways both subtle and not so subtle following Wal-Mart on the long march towards ever lower prices. There are those as in the case of Vlasic where it can be argued the end result was bankruptcy [3]. There are those as in the case of Gillette who were arguably forced into merging with another company to survive [4]. There are those as in the case of Coca Cola who have bent to the will of Wal-Mart in ways unimaginable as little as 5 years ago in the design and marketing of a new product [5].

A set of beliefs greater than each of its parts

It is not that we don't want to believe. Any efforts to reduce the cost of food, including organic, are worthwhile regardless of who makes them. After all who would not favor healthy, inexpensive food, easily within reach of all? It is more that the track record does not seem to be there. Or past history seems to indicate the track leads elsewhere.

If the end result at some point in the future is food few will afford due to overall downward wage pressures is it still worth it? Not in our opinion. If the food is thought healthy because someone on Madison Avenue - or Bentonville, Arkansas - had the idea that starting with organic corn to end up with organic soda, or starting with organic wheat and ending up with organic macaroni product packaged in boxes containing convenient microwaveable containers of cheese sauce would increase the bottom line... Well, again, not in our opinion.

Organic is more than a particular head of lettuce or random bell pepper even if the purchases occurred at the likes of Whole Foods. The organic movement is a belief in clean air. It is a belief in clean water. It is a belief in farm animals treated humanely. It is a respect for an environment preserved and passed on to future generations. But it is ultimately more than the sum of these individual efforts. It is a belief in equality for everything and everyone - from the planet to the people inhabiting it. Much as we might wish these goals always achievable at little or no cost the wish does not always mesh with the reality of the efforts required. Sometimes it takes a tad more work. Sometimes the cost is a bit higher. Whole Foods may not be perfect, but it does at least seem to pay more than corporate lip service to these principles with commitments involving organic agriculture and an overall green mission. With Wal-Mart the goal seems limited to continually lower prices regardless of the ultimate outcomes this particular goal may eventually bring - all other considerations take a backseat and are seemingly given attention only to serve the goal of ever-lower prices.

The National Organic Program (NOP) standards and the USDA Organic Seal represent years of work on the part of consumers and organic farmers alike to create a model for sustainable agriculture, promoting clean water, clean air, indeed, a clean environment. The NOP standards are not, however, self-actuating. Since the standards were announced in 2002 there have been numerous efforts to undermine these standards. Sometimes the efforts are obvious as with Monsanto's attempts to push genetically engineered products as "sustainable agriculture." Sometimes the events pass largely unnoticed as when a certifying agency is essentially told to "shut-up" and certify an operation that doesn't quite pass muster under the NOP regulations [6]. Sometimes the efforts are a direct attack on the efforts that brought us the NOP standards in the first place as with recent attempts to pass a "national uniform food labeling" law.

Organic products command a growing market share. This will tempt some producers to subvert the NOP certification process or cut corners once certified. Furthermore, Wal-Mart places pressure on suppliers to reduce costs to the point of acquiring goods from other countries where there is even less certainty as to organic standards. With all of this in mind we can only remain concerned regarding the ultimate long-term effects Wal-Mart will have in the organic market. Unless we speak out and continually make our voices heard, past gains in the production and marketing of organic foods will ultimately be lost. It is up to us as consumers to make our wishes known - to the point of voting with our wallet when and where necessary. Choose your foods like your life depends on them.

A note from the Organic Consumers Association
The Senate is poised to pass a bill taking away your right to know what's in your food

"The House of Representatives has passed a controversial 'national food uniformity' labeling law that would take away local government and states' power to require food safety labels such as those required in California and other states on foods or beverages that are likely to cause cancer, birth defects, allergic reactions, or mercury poisoning. This bill would also prevent citizens in local municipalities and states from passing laws requiring that genetically engineered foods and ingredients such as Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) be labeled."

Please write your senators urging them to vote no on the "National Uniformity for Food Act." As an alternative to snail mail you can also visit the OCA website at the above link and send an electronic mail message urging your senators to vote no on this matter when it comes up for a vote on the Senate floor.

1. Warner, Melanie. "Wal-Mart Eyes Organic Foods." The New York Times. May 12, 2006.
2. Fortune Global 500.
3. Fishman, Charles. "The Wal-Mart You Don't Know." Fast Company. Issue 77. December 2003. Page 68.
4. Lynn, Barry C. "Breaking the Chain." Harper's Magazine. July 2006. Page 29-36.
5. "What Wal-Mart Wants, Wal-Mart Gets for Its Shelves." Beverage World. March 8, 2006.
6. See for example the case involving The Country Hen, a Massachusetts egg farm, that filed for organic certification through Massachusetts Independent Certification (MIC). MIC denied the certification request made by Country Hen based in part because the Country Hen did not allow chickens access to the outdoors as required by the National Organic Program. Following an appeal by the Country Hen the USDA essentially told MIC to "shut-up" and retroactively certify Country Hen as an organic producer.

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Description:

Aloe deltoideodonta ©2000 Gerald and Buff Corsi, CalPhotos. Google Aloe barbadensis

Aloe transplants easily and is so hardy that in many farmers markets in Latin America shoppers may find aloe hanging upside down from a vendors' awnings where it awaits planting.

The aloe has a long recorded history appearing at least as far back as 1500 B.C. on Egyptian papyrus scrolls. In antiquity Greek, Chinese and Indian physicians used it. Today it is a common ingredient in cosmetics and a can even be found as an ingredient in some health drinks.

Uses: The gel of the aloe is renowned as a burn remedy [1]. You may know aloe for its unparalleled and immediately soothing ability when applied on any burn. For this reason, aloe should never be too far from your kitchen. It will grow in a small pot on your windowsill or out in the garden. Too much water is not good for aloe, so if you live in a wet area, try keeping at least one potted indoors. Aloe transplants so easily and is so hardy that there are farmers markets in Latin America where the shopper may find aloe hanging upside down from the vendors' awnings, waiting to be adopted and placed right side up in soil.

In case of skin burn or sunburn, open an aloe leaf and smear the gel over the burn generously. It will quickly absorb and dry, and then smear on more gel until the discomfort is gone, which takes surprisingly little time.

Aloe does have a cautionary tale about it too. Pregnant women should especially take care to avoid the latex, which is the bitter yellow or white sticky substance in the aloe leaf, because large doses are so strongly laxative that they can produce abortion [2].

Abortion is not a concern for the gel or juice of aloe that is sold in health food stores, because the gel's action is different than the latex. Aloe gel isanti-inflammatory and vulnerary or wound healing, [3] with specific action on the skin as well as the upper GI. Gastric ulcers respond well to aloe. Aloe has also been used to lower cholesterol and to treat diabetes [3].

1. Heggers et al. "Beneficial effects of aloe in wound healing." Phytotherapy Research. 1992. September 30: S48-S52
2. Chithra et al. "Influence of Aloe vera on the glycosaminoglycans in the matrix of healing dermal wounds in rats." J. of Ethnopharmacology. 1998. 59: 179-186.
3. A. Koch. "Investigations on the laxative effect of aloin in the human colon." Planta Medica supplement issue. 1993. 59: A689.