Posted 11/01/05

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Eagle Tribune - Lawrence,MA,USA
As organic food becomes popular, defining it gets trickier

By Chris Markuns
Staff Writer


Congress last week passed legislation about the definition of organic food. That decision
and the lobbying efforts leading up to it made one thing clear: Organic food has made the
big time.

There were already plenty of signs marking organic food's permanent place in modern life
— the expansion of organic-based grocery chains coast to coast, separate organic lines for
nearly every edible product and the announcement last week that McDonald's will serve
organic coffee in the Northeast.

Congress overruled a court decision that would have defined organic more narrowly and
further restricted use of that powerful label. The court ruling would have meant costly
changes for some of the biggest organic food manufacturers, among them the
Londonderry, N.H.-based organic giant Stonyfield Yogurt and the Wild Oats grocery chain
that has found a comfortable spot in Andover.

The organic food market is booming — to the tune of an estimated $14 billion this year, a
long way from the $1 billion spent when laws regarding it were first written in 1990. It's
the fastest growing segment of the food universe, according to the Organic Trade
Association — at a rate of at least 17 percent a year.

On its face, the debate was technical bickering over things like synthetics and feed
percentages and statutory authority. But beyond that is a battle featuring an elemental
slice of American life — how we eat, the exploding growth of one way of doing it and the
price some of those at its roots believe they are paying for success.

It's about whether the organic on store shelves is really organic, who gets to answer that
question, and whether the consumers behind it all actually understand what they're buying.

"I think there's value in defining the food you're getting," said Kathy Rand, who owns the
organic-driven Natural Grocer Inc. in Newburyport. "The question is, who's writing the
dictionary and what their motives are."
...
Stonyfield is as good a microcosm as any of the industry's evolution.

The company tells the tale of its 1983 birth as "two families, seven cows," making 150
cases of yogurt a week and annual sales of $56,000. A leap to 2002 results in 187
employees cranking out 242,000 cases a week, sales counted in the tens of millions, and
the proud claim of supporting 40,000 acres of organic farmland.

And, like the industry at large, the company captured the attention of those outside the
organic food movement. In 2003, the France-based yogurt-maker Group Danone — the
parent company of Yoplait and Dannon — bought Stonyfield. It now has more than 300
employees making 500,000 cases a week and annual sales of $96 million, good enough to
be the third best-selling yogurt in the country, organic or otherwise. Dannon holds the No.
2 spot.

And while the company still manages to straddle the fine line of selling in both small
organic stores and ultracompetitive supermarket chains, some believe it permanently
picked a side in the recent fight.

The 2002 lawsuit that almost turned everything upside down attacked the standards for
the various levels of labeling: "100 percent organic" is just that. "Organic" can carry the
green USDA organic seal, but may contain up to 5 percent synthetic ingredients. Foods that
are 70 percent to 95 percent organic get no seal and are labeled "made with organic
ingredients."

To some — like the Maine blueberry farmer who brought the lawsuit — it is misleading to
attach the "organic" label to something that includes non-organic ingredients. An appeals
court eventually agreed. That ruling was a potential disaster for the world of processed
organic food — an oxymoron to some — because that 5 percent exception is needed to
mass produce and distribute many of the products.

There are only 38 approved exceptions — some vitamins and spices, citric acid, or baking
powder, for instance — and they must undergo a review process to prove there is no
organic alternative.

Stonyfield uses the thickener pectin, a fruit-peel product considered synthetic because of
how it's made. The 5 percent exception applies to nearly all of Stonyfield's organic
products, which account for 75 percent of its profits.

Had the court's ruling held, Stonyfield and others would have faced the prospect of
replacing the organic label and USDA seal with "made from organic ingredients." This, to
many, sounds suspiciously like "almost organic," and is certain product doom.

Stonyfield's smaller, "made with organic ingredients" line does not do nearly as well as its
organic line, said the company's vice president of natural resources, Nancy Hirshberg.
There is serious power in the current label.

"It's two things," she said. "It's the seal, and it's being able to put it in the primary display
(with) the word organic."

At Wild Oats, which has 113 stores in 24 states and Canada, and features up to 60 percent
organic or made-with-organic-products food — including its own extensive line —
spokeswoman Sonja Tuitele agrees with Hirshberg.

"Customers are looking for the product that has the most amount of organic possible," she
said, estimating the average organic food price bump at 20 percent.
...
For some, this represents a fundamental change in the definition of organic food. To them,
the notion of all-natural, locally produced food doesn't belong in the world of big business
and mass production.

They see corporate raiders coming for the cash, wanting the cash value of the word
"organic" without the belief system behind it.

"Some of the philosophy is going to get diluted, as well as the definition, just because
when it hits the large markets they are more driven (by the bottom line)," said Rand, the
small Newburyport store owner.

She readily acknowledges the traditional organic food market might not be up to the
rocketing demand. She said she thinks the increased awareness of the past decade is good,
but wonders how much of the message is lost. She and others still believe that if it isn't
naturally in the yogurt, it's not an organic product.

Others, like the Organic Consumers Association, are less worried about the system that
was in place than they are about the slippery slope. Organic Consumers co-founder and
national director Ronnie Cummins says there's little concern about the 38 synthetics
approved so far, but plenty of worry about 38 exceptions suddenly becoming hundreds.

This legislation marks the first steps toward weakening oversight of the existing standards,
he said, and making it easier for the likes of Kraft and other food giants to get more
offensive ingredients into allegedly organic food.

Indeed, Cummins considers the latest "sneak attack" through Congress a classic example
of the difference between how corporate America and traditional organic supporters think.

"They want changes quickly, and they're used to operating with Congress and regulatory
agencies in a certain way. ... But we want them to play by the rules," Cummins said. "The
reason why this is happening is big corporations are moving to take over the alternative
system we've built up for 35 years, because it's gotten so big."

Stonyfield's non-organic thickeners are "harmless," he concedes, but the easier it is to get
them approved, the less they'll search for an organic method.

And, just as important, Cummins and others say, are the expectations of consumers. They
doubt the claim that the "made with organic" label would mean the end of so many popular
products, and Cummins cites a Consumer Reports survey that found 85 percent of people
buying food labeled "organic" don't expect there to be any synthetics.

Hirshberg at Stonyfield and Tuitele at Wild Oats acknowledge that most consumers,
especially the more casual organic shoppers who make up much of the burgeoning growth,
probably don't know that the organic label and USDA seal are different from 100 percent
organic.
That is no small thing to some.

"That's why you have free range and you have organic, and that's what you're paying
for," said Carol Simone, who owns Natural Market Place in Salem, N.H., and tries to dine
exclusively on organic products when she eats meat. "You want to get what you're
expecting."
...
The counter from Stonyfield and others — including the Organic Trade Association, which
handled the lobbying for the reversal of the court decision — is that it's all just a matter of
being reasonable.

Hirshberg and Tuitele reject the accusation that companies like theirs, because of their size,
are more likely to abandon the philosophical roots of organic living in the name of cost and
expediency.

"The original heart of the movement still exists and is still very strong, reducing the amount
of chemicals in the environment, using sustainable methods," said Tuitele of Wild Oats,
insisting that the list of synthetics only includes those that can't be done organically. "I
think if there were organic alternatives, it wouldn't even be an issue. ... Unfortunately, in
order to make a lot of those products, you need a lot of those processing agents."

Hirshberg cites 100 percent organic cane juice, which she says must be heated when
converting it to sugar and therefore — because heating is considered a synthetic process —
becomes a synthetic.

That's the type of technicality they are up against, she said, which is why she described
"enormous relief" over the action in Congress last week. Stonyfield, she points out, was
responsible for creating an organic vanilla market when they couldn't get it, and says the
company will continue to look for organic versions of things like pectin.

The Organic Trade Association estimated that had the court ruling stood, it would have
cost manufacturers $758 million in annual revenue, and Hirshberg argues that the damage
would have been felt strongly by the small farmers and businesses that supply companies
like Stonyfield.
Organic food may be experiencing some growing pains, she said, but not in standards.

"I do think there are issues and concerns of larger players entering organic, eating up
supplies and driving costs down," she said. "I don't have concerns right now about them
trying to weaken standards. I haven't seen any sign of that."

And while some may have seen the company sale as a betrayal of its roots, she insists
Stonyfield hasn't changed a thing since Danone took over. Original management
maintained control.

"We're one of the fastest-growing companies in the entire business," she said. "They're
not going to mess with us."

The ultimate answer, many believe, will come from consumers. While they may be
surprised to learn the "organic" label on their milk carton has some gray areas, it's hard to
say how much anyone cares about 38 this or 5 percent that.

Both sides seem to agree that many people just want to know if it's better for them, and
it's unclear how finicky the general population wants to be.

Rand, the Newburyport store owner, points to organic peanut butter. People are turned
off because it separates, due to the lack of stabilizers found in supermarket brands — a
problem solved by flipping the jar over so it can remix itself. It may, she said, offer a
window into the public willingness to accept a few synthetic compromises.

"People are very conditioned," she said, "to have things the way we want them when we
want them."

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