ORGANIC FOOD: THE PARADOX - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 60

Further, while the USDA sets the standards, third-party “certifiers” actually inspect and approve farmers
and processors as organic. Many of the integrity questions about the organic standards boil down to wheth-
er different certifiers allow different practices to be used. Some nonprofit certifiers do an excellent job,
while others that cater to the larger operations are less vigilant. The USDA's failure to properly manage
certifiers, especially under the Bush administration, has exacerbated some of the standards' weaknesses.
Nevertheless, despite the flaws, the development of a government-ordained organic standard was critic-
al for providing consumers with a clear, labeled alternative to foods produced using pesticides, herbicides,
and dangerous technologies. Ironically, the millions of dollars spent by the conventional food producers in
marketing their organic lines has awakened a larger number of Americans to the danger of toxic agrochem-
icals. Consumers of organic products report overwhelmingly that they purchase them because these items
are healthier—a situation that agribusiness interests view as dangerous. Although organic food makes up
only 4 percent of food sales in the United States, in a Hartman Group survey in 2010, 75 percent of con-
sumers reported buying organic food in the preceding year, and 22 percent bought it monthly.
Yet the weakness of a standard that is the lowest common denominator, and that eliminated the strictest
levels of certification, has created a paradox. Organic food, catapulted into popularity as an alternative to
a corporate-controlled food system, is now largely controlled by the largest food companies in the world.
Today, fourteen of the twenty largest processors of food have acquired organic brands or introduced organ-
ic versions of their products. Whole Foods Market dominates the U.S. natural food retail sector, and one
company, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNF), controls distribution.
A fever of mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliances swept through the organics industry as the com-
panies that dominate the food-processing industry began enlarging their operations. Consolidation of or-
ganic brands snowballed between 1997 and 2002 when some of the largest and most successful companies
were sold to conventional food processors. General Mills acquired Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen; Kel-
logg's acquired Morningstar Farms/Natural Touch; Heinz invested $100,000 in Hain Foods, which merged
with Celestial Seasonings; and Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's. As the organics industry became more con-
centrated between 1990 and 2005, it grew from $1 billion a year to almost $15 billion. 3