American Organic Farmers Being Sold Out?

On the heels of the release of The Cornucopia Institute's study exposing the import-dependent organic soy industry, a report by the United States Department of Agriculture substantiates Cornucopia's findings.  Using different research methods, the two reports reach similar conclusions:  organic manufacturers and farmers are facing escalating competition from large conventional food manufacturers entering the organic market, and companies are increasingly looking to China and other countries to import organic foods and ingredients. 

"Two of the major findings of the USDA report - conventional food corporations taking over successful independent organic companies, and increasing dependence on imports - are not unrelated," suggests Charlotte Vallaeys, Farm and Food Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute and primary author of the organization's study Behind the Bean: The Heroes and Charlatans of the Organic Soy Industry.  The USDA report, Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry, was released last month.

"When agribusiness corporations enter the organic market, like Dean Foods when it bought the Silk soymilk brand from a pioneering independent company, they sometimes look abroad for cheaper imports or abandon organics altogether, rather than maintain their commitment to supporting domestic organic farmers," Vallaeys adds.  "The handlers mentioned in the USDA report that now complain of shortages of domestically grown organic crops are therefore by no means innocent victims of forces beyond their control, but rather helped create these shortages by opting for cheaper organic imports instead of supporting domestic farmers with sustainable prices."

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