Sales of organic food reportedly climbed to record highs in 2016, an indication organics are edging toward the mainstream.
In a new industry report, the Organic Trade Association says American consumers spent $43 billion on organic products in 2016, which accounts for more than 5 percent of total U.S. food sales, a high water mark for the organic industry.
The counter-culture movement that once agitated the food industry from the periphery has grown much closer to conventional says Iowa State University sociologist Carmen Bain.
“I think there’s a real tension among some producers, organic producers, consumers, advocacy groups, and so forth about what direction to they want organic to go in,” Bain says.
With organic products now coming from some of the nation’s largest growers and processors, such as Driscoll’s berries and Kellogg’s cereals, many early advocates have turned their attention to small, local farms.
Bain says with demand for organic produce continuing to grow, though, more farmers are likely to look toward organic production, but it remains a challenge.
