Organic MarketsPodcast Outline

Organic?

+Perception vs. Reality

+What really is ‘Organic’?

+Industrial Organic

• Cascadian Farm

+Local Organic

• Farmer John

+Organic Markets, like whole foods, typically stock industrial organic products

+How did the organic industry arise?

• Movements

٭ The industrial revolution and the health movements have both contributed to altering the system

• Demand

• Desire for Profit

+Example: Cascadian Farm

• Show how example follows pattern

Origins of Industrial Organic

Hub

+Organic markets provide a hub to buy organic foods

+Example: Whole Foods

• Demographic

٭ Attracted by image/ décor/labels/advertising

• Products

٭ Technology behind the growth, harvest, and distribution

٭ Organic certification process

The Government

+FDA and USDA Certifications

+The creation of organic definitions and certifications

+Is organic a marketing tool being promoted by the government, but not actually better?

+Laws supporting and forbidding organic agriculture

Economic context

+How did organic become viable in the current world?

+Organic markets provide jobs

+Advertising organic products

+The consumer demand for organic products

+Organic sales in the Charlottesville area – local Whole Foods

Farming or Marketing?

+Industrial organic philosophies

+Whole Foods philosophies

+Customer’s philosophies

• conflicts between industrial organic and local organic?

Implications

+Benefits

• Healthier foods

• Chemical Free

• Customer Convenience

• Provides Jobs

+Drawbacks

• Industrial organic affects the land

Over tilling٭

• Not always better than conventional foods

• Compromise original definition of organic

Challenges

+Challenges

• Providing information to customers that describes exactly what they are buying

• Deciding between Local and Industrial organic

٭ Does industrial organic defeat purpose of organic?

• Establishing a relationship between the farmers and the markets.

• Making organic sustainable

What is at Stake?

+Progress – in what direction are organic markets going?

• Marriage between genetics and organics

• True organics

+Viewer Reaction: What do consumers think they are buying with organic?

• okay with big organic

• thought they were buying something else