"organicfoods" news and stories

These days, everyone is familiar with the term organic. It is plastered over everything in the grocery store, from instant oatmeal to cartons of milk. However just 25 years ago, organic foods weren't really on the popular radar. One of the first companies to come along and start making people aware of benefits of eating foods grow without the use of chemicals was Earthbound Farm. Started in 1984 with a 2 1/2 acre raspberry crop, they've expanded into one of the largest producers of organic produce in the country. You know those pre-washed bagged salads that your family tears through each week? They were the ones who started that trend.

This year, they are celebrating their 24th birthday and they're doing it in style. Each day for during the month of July, the folks at Earthbound are giving away three copies of their cookbook, Food to Live By. Everyone who enters to win will also get a $1 off coupon for any Earthbound Farm product. Additionally, they've put up 24 tasty recipes and 24 reasons to choose organic foods. So head on over and say happy birthday to a company who helped lead the organic movement.

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The question of whether to go green and shift your diet to a more organic is a challenging one these days. These days all we hear are reports of climate change, the need to buy carbon offsets when you go on long airplane ride and the importance of eating organic. I admit to being on the organic and local shopping and eating bandwagon, although I do it more because the food tastes so much better (and is often less expensive) than the stuff I can get at my local chain grocery store.

Over at Green Daily today, Bruce Watson ruminates on the issue of organic food and whether it's as green and planet-friendly as we'd like to think. Go on over and see what he has to say and let us know what you think.

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I just mentioned an article over at The Washington Post that had a few basic tips for saving money while trying to eat more healthily, and now I'm looking at similar information over at CBS News that takes it one step further by focusing on organics. As we all know, organic foods can be, and more often than not, are, more expensive than regular foods. Here are a few tips on how to find lower prices:

• Shop around, i.e. don't think Whole Foods Market is your only option.
• Go to the Farmers' Market, and shop strategically. Going later in the day often results in lower prices.
  
• Join a food co-op
• Look for coupons

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Perhaps they are responding to Wal-Mart's increased offering of organic products. Perhaps they are extending their business philosophy of organic growth into their actual products. Whatever the reason, Minneapolis-based Target will be putting more organic products on their grocery shelves.

Target already offers orgaic option in their SuperTarget stores around the country. Their produce departments are certified organic, and they offer hundreds of national-brand organic products. However, Target plans to add their own products under a private-label, Archer Farms. The line of foods will include pizzas, pastas, frozen dinners and dairy products.

Some of the nation's largest grocery store chains are rushing to introduce their own, in-house line of organic food products. Marketers are hoping that by introducing their own lines consumers who were unable to pay the higher prices for name brands will be more apt to join in on  the organic trend. The giant grocery chain Albertson's will begin its venture with 50 products in the Nature's Best line of organic items. That number will jump to 100 by June and to 300 by the middle of 2007.

Critics of this move are worried that the products will not measure up in quality to such name brands as Horizon or Cascade Valley. Not true, say the chains, they adhere to all the USDA guidelines that are in place to ensure that the true organic nature is achieved by each item.

Last year Whole Foods was the benefactor of the nearly $13 billion Americans annually spend on organic foods and household items. The mainstream grocery chains are hoping to capture some of that market by hosting products that are about 27 percent below those of the name brands.

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