On the other hand, one trend I've noticed in high-end stores here in Austin
(Whole Foods, Central Market, etc.) is the rising prices of even
conventional produce displayed next to organic. It's almost as if the
premium cost of organic has made the retailers and consumers assume that
any "quality" produce should cost more. In some cases this is partially
justified by some unusual quality of the produce - in others, there doesn't
seem to be anything "special" about the stuff.
At 10:14 AM 4/7/99 -0400, Mark wrote:
>I am one of those people who is willing to spend more to support things I
>believe in, but what we have not yet addressed in this discussion is the
>fact that once organic food leaves the farm, the farmer has little control
>over the retail price. I am tired of being gouged by natural food stores
>and coops selling wilted, aphid covered organic kale for $1.99 a pound! I
>grow a lot of my own vegetables organically so I am not afraid of a few
>bugs, but if I am turned off by the produce imagine how a more squeamish
>consumer would feel. So the food goes to waste, the store loses money and
>the prices stay high.
>
>Another problem with the price of food was told to me by a local organic
>farmer. He sells his organic strawberries to two coops. Strawberries
>obviously have a limited shelf life. In one coop, they mark them down as
>they start to look a little old. This store sells a lot of his berries,
>because people buy them both when they are fresh and pay the premium price
>and bargain hunters grab them when they are marked down. The other store
>keeps the price the same no matter how old and spotty they get. And they
>will not put out fresh berries until the old ones sell. So he does not
>sell more than two flats a season at their store. And people get the
>impression that his organic berries are brown and squishy and cost too much!
>
>So we also need to counter the impression that organic food looks worse
>than conventional food, especially when retailers have a hand in it.
>
>Mark
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