Cashing in on Organics

In supermarkets across the country, the war of the label has begun, with consumers ending up on the losing end of misleading information.  The recent popularity of organic foods has grown due to raised consumer consciousness of food production, safety and handling practices.  But what is really behind that organic label? 

We have all seen the trends. Corporations like Kraft and General Mills have been anxious to get in on the profitability of organics and buy up product lines that health conscious consumers have been purchasing for years.  From reading about Wal-Mart’s recent mislabeling of organic foods, to walking through the local Safeway or Albertsons and finding their own organic brand on every shelf- organic foods are everywhere.  Unfortunately, even a stroll through ANY natural food store does not isolate us from corporate America as we would like to think. 

A chart of major corporate ownership and involvement in the organic food updated in November 2006 shows how organic brands are linked to the top food processors in North America. Dr. Phil Howard, an Assistant Professor at Michigan State, is responsible for the creation and updating of the organic food business chart. He teaches in the University’s Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies program.

View a pdf of the November 2006 chart here.

You can also see the evolution of the organic industry as you compare the November 2006 chart with a chart from October 2002.

Here you can see how chain stores have created private label organics making organic food the new “generic.”

So what, if any, is the ray of hope in the muddled world of organics?  Some independents are holding onto their livelihood and have not been sold to major corporations. Click here for a list of examples.

Fortunately, the Missoula Community Co-op is working to make your food systems more locally- controlled.  In the commercialization of our daily world, you still have a choice when it comes to how and what you cook for you and your family.  By shopping at the co-op and choosing locally produced products, you support your local producers and keep your dollars in their hands, not distant corporations. 

Source: http://cornucopia.org/index.php/who-owns-organic/

-Julie Ehlers

Buy Safe, Buy Local

With the several recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses traced to bagged spinach or lettuce, many consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about knowing where their food is grown and how it is processed.

The LA Times featured a story as recently as January 20th of this year suggesting that centralized processing and packaging of greens might contribute to the spread of a lethal strain of E. coli bacteria.  According to Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the FDA, “If you have a single head of [tainted] lettuce that winds up in someone’s home, makes the family sick, chances are it’ll never get on the radar screen.  If you take the same lettuce, process it…one head may contaminate multiple bags.  Then you’ve got an outbreak.”  The harvesting of greens for packaging has also raised concerns, said Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety.  “I quit eating bagged lettuce years ago.  After seeing how bagged lettuce was harvested and prepared, my impression was it’s not very sanitary.”

While produce raised on large scale farms and distributed throughout the country poses a real threat to public health, small-scale, local production and distribution can be a safer alternative. 

In a September 20, 2006 New York Times article, author Marian Burros writes:  “The chances of buying uncooked spinach containing the deadly bacterium that has been making headlines…are significantly reduced if you know the farmer and how he farms, and if you wash the spinach thoroughly before eating it, a government official acknowledged.”  She spoke with Dr. Acheson of the FDA, who stated that it is less risky to eat locally grown spinach.  “Clearly the risk is significantly reduced if you know the farmer and know his farm…”

The co-op is committed to carrying locally produced foods whenever possible for many reasons:  To support our farmers, ranchers and producers, to strengthen the Montana economy, to reduce the environmental impact of food production and distribution and because of its freshness and taste.  Enhanced food safety is another emerging and increasingly compelling motivation to purchase local foods. 

Sources: 
Burros, Marian, “What would Popeye Eat?”, New York Times, September 23, 2006.
Engel, Mary and Lin II, Rong-Gong, “Processing may Spread E. coli”, LA Times, January 20, 2007.

-Meredith Printz

Membership: 1 to 1

Does this look familiar to anyone? Well it should, because it's YOUR co-op! As we launch into this growing season, you will suddenly find that the co-op is not just a grubby buying club, but a little store. Volunteers and board members, neighbors and interns are working to make this little place into a fully functioning market as the late winter buds into spring.

This means many things-the revival of a neighborhood market, the seeds of transformation for this old warehouse, and more market for local producers. There is a whole lot of love being put into the making of this place. As trim is painted and shelves are moved, research is done, and meetings are planned, the co-op is becoming. It is an exciting time,and not only because so much is happening, but because this placemaking is the convergence of many people's ideas and shared labor. And THAT, is what the co-op is about.

Think of what is possible with more of us - that is why we are asking you, as a member, to get ONE friend to join by March.

So if you are a member, this is your task---- bring your friend along next time you visit the co-op. The co-op is staffed Monday-Wednesday from 2-6. Tell them why you joined the co-op. Print them a membership form. I'll explain the rest.

We look forward to knowing you!

-Kate Keller

Eggsperiment

I take into account several factors while food shopping, including: quality, available information, community impact, and of course price. There are regular grocery stores, natural food stores, farmer's markets, the co-op, then there's organic, conventional, locally grown …with so many choices I am sometimes left wondering what is really the best option here?. I compared three categories of one food to shed light on that question.

Eggs were a perfect food to compare because I love eggs, I eat them almost daily, and they are available in the three categories I wanted to compare:

1. conventional (Albertson's brand) (1.49/dozen)

2. grocery-store (Naturally Nested) (2.99/dozen)

3. local (bought through Co-op from the Moon-Randolph Homestead) (2.50/dozen)

I cooked them all eggsactly the same way, six minutes in boiling water, and served them to my testers (Kate, Meredith, and Julie) so that they didn't know which eggs were which. I was not surprised that we all agreed the eggs from the Moon-Randolph had the best flavor. What was surprising was that we ranked the conventional eggs second-best and the Naturally Nested third! The most expensive eggs were our least favorite.

After the taste test, I tried to determine where all the eggs came from. The only information on the Albertson's egg carton was "distributed by Albertson's Corporation, Boise, ID". On the Naturally Nested carton was a list of distributors in six states. Neither of these cartons had any contact information and I knew that calling the grocery store for the distributor's phone numbers would set me off on a protracted journey of phone calls and frustration. I admit, I gave up before I started. To find out the scoop on the local eggs, I asked Kate Keller for the phone number to the Homestead and talked to Russell Johnston, one of the caretakers, who answered my questions through e-mail.

I found out that the Homestead does not make a profit off the eggs but that the money goes right back into the chickens to buy feed and supplies. I found out that when I buy eggs from the Homestead, not only are they reasonably priced and most delicious, my money helps to keep a piece of Missoula's history alive. About the Homestead, Russell wrote,

"… historic value, its quirky aesthetic charm, and its potential to be used as a resource for the people of Missoula.  It operates as a museum piece and an artist's muse, with open days throughout the summer and group visits by arrangement.  Visitors, especially children, get to see what small scale farming used to be like.  To that end we keep chickens, goats and a vegetable garden; a local farmer (Dan Ryan, sheep-farmer extraordinaire) lends us some of his sheep throughout the summer." 

I also called Judy Lowery of Sonshine Farm, one of the Co-op's other egg sources. Judy explained to me over the phone that their chicken/egg project is actually managed by her eleven and nine year old sons, Anthony and Quinn. The boys raise their 155 chickens, candle and grade the eggs, and package & label (Anthony's design) the cartons as part of their home-schooling. After buying feed, the boys are left with a little profit to save. The boys are learning responsibility, small-scale farming practices, and business skills among other things.

After analyzing the results of my comparison, I effortlessly came to the conclusion that at least in the case of eggs, locally produced is unquestionably the way to go. While they are not the cheapest, neither are they the most expensive. They are the best tasting. I can simply make a local phone call to get all the information I want about how the chickens live and what they eat. And the money spent directly benefits people in my community.

-Katie Christofferson