There was an interesting article in the May 13, 2001 "New York Times"
newspaper (magazine section). It was titled "Behind the Organic-
Industrial Complex" and paints a picture of the organic food
industry that is quite different from the idealized view
presented by the industry marketing people. It is no longer
on the web, so you will have to look it up in the library if
you are interested.

On a separate, more local note. organic white nectarines were
$1.70 - $2.50 per pound yesterday at the Berkeley Farmers Market.
Meanwhile, I bought non-organic white nectarines (very good quality),
and paid only $0.69/pound, at Berkeley Bowl marketplace (today).
If people are going to choose organic more often, the industry needs
to shrink this wide price differential.

Also, Farmers Markets are not always the farmer operations they claim to
be. In California, only farmers can get licensed to sell at such
markets, but there is a loophole: some farmers loan their license to
a peddler, who gives the farmer a cut. Thus some of the sellers
at California "Farmers Markets" are not the actual growers, but simply
resellers of the exact same produce you can get in health food stores and
supermarkets (often at a lower price, and  where - unlike the Farmers
Markets - the produce has been more consistently refrigerated). Under these
circumstances, you really are not supporting farmers by buying at such markets -
except in those cases when the seller is a farmer and selling produce
he/she actually grew.

I only mention this because "Buy organic" (...regardless of cost or
quality) and "Shop at Farmers Markets" (...regardless of whether the
sellers are farmers or peddlers selling overpriced foods) are often
suggested, without considering the underlying realities.

Tom Billings