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Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew
by Samuel Fromartz

Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew Cover

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Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"[D]emonstrates how the skills and perspective of journalists can produce in-depth accounts of social, political and economic phenomena that go beyond mere reportage, or 'he said/she said' accounts of controversial issues. Fromartz...effectively integrates interviews with key actors in the corporate, government, and organic farming sector, along with savvy analysis of the economic, regulatory, and consumer dynamics that are in play. He also personalizes the book with accounts of his own quest for healthy food while shopping, testing organic food for attractiveness and taste, while maintaining a certain distance as an 'objective' surveyor of a remarkable story." Richard C. Collins, The Virginia Quarterly Review (read the entire VQR review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Who would have thought that a natural food supermarket could have been a financial refuge from the dot-com bust? But it had. Sales of organic food had shot up about 20 percent per year since 1990, reaching $11 billion by 2003....Whole Foods managed to sidestep that fray by focusing on, well, people like me. — from the introduction to Organic, Inc.

Organic food has become a juggernaut in an otherwise sluggish food industry, growing at 20 percent a year as products like organic ketchup and corn chips vie for shelf space with conventional comestibles. But what is organic food? Is it really better for you? Where did it come from, and why are so many of us buying it?

Business writer Samuel Fromartz set out to get the story behind this surprising success after he noticed that his own food choces were changing with the times. In Organic, Inc., Fromartz traces organic food back to its anti-industrial origins more than a century ago. Then he follows it forward again, casting a spotlight on the innovators who created an alternative way of producing food that took root and grew beyond their wildest expectations. In the process he captures how the industry came to risk betraying the very ideals that drove its success in a classically complex case of free-market triumph.

Review:

"In recent decades, organic food — the idealistic, natural alternative to industrial agribusiness and processed packaged foods — has grown into a multibillion-dollar business. Fromartz's portrait of the adolescent industry reveals that that success has prompted an epic identity crisis. Big corporations like Kraft and General Mills own the bulk of the market, and half of all organic sales come from the largest 2% of farms, alienating those most committed to producing chemical-free fruits and vegetables on small family farms, and selling them locally. Business journalist Fromartz uncovers the trailblazers' tactics: how Whole Foods Market developed a religion of 'moral hedonism,' how Earthbound Farm launched a revolution with bagged salad mix and how Silk soy milk became 'the number one brand in the dairy case, among all milk and soy milk brands.' But if big business is now the muscle of the organic industry, Fromartz demonstrates that small growers remain at its heart. Fromartz's profiles — of pioneers who sell their produce at farmers' markets and foster cooperatively-owned, local distribution networks — deftly navigate the complexities of pesticide issues, organic production methods and the legal controversies surrounding organic certification. This is a pragmatic, wise assessment of the compromises the organic movement has struck to gain access to the mainstream." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Book News Annotation:

A business journalist based in Washington, D.C., Fromartz describes how growing real food turned into a movement, then into a business that spawned multi-billion-dollar corporations that could afford their own stable of politicians and were not interested in anything beyond the bottom line. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Review:

"Fromartz makes it clear just how precarious this movement has been....Despite the perils facing the industry, the tone of Organic, Inc. is much more upbeat and optimistic." Los Angeles Times

Review:

"In Organic, Inc., Samuel Fromartz gives us a uniquely American story — the emergence of Big Organics from humble origins in small, counterculture farms. Fromartz writes with the passion of an organic partisan but his account of the pros and cons of Organics, Big and Small, is unusually balanced, honest, and compelling." Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics

Review:

"Unfortunately, this is an author who forces you to eat your spinach — and eat it and eat it — before you get to the meat of the matter, much less the dessert. Instead of spinach, read baby lettuce leaves. Instead of meat, read organically raised free-range chickens." Wall Street Journal

Synopsis:

Business writer Fromartz traces organic food back to its anti-industrial origins more than a century ago. Then he follows it forward again, casting a spotlight on the innovators who created an alternative way of producing food that took root and grew beyond their wildest expectations.

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About the Author

Samuel Fromartz is a business journalist whose work has appeared in Inc., Fortune Small Business, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, and other publications. A recreational cook, he lives in Washington, D.C.
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Table of Contents

Introduction            ix

1.             Humus Worshippers

The Origins of Organic ­Food  1

2.             The Organic Method

Strawberries in Two ­Versions                32

3.             A Local Initiative

From Farm to ­Market             69

4.             A Spring Mix

Growing Organic ­Salad           108

5.             Mythic Manufacturing

Health, Spirituality, and ­Breakfast         145

6.             Backlash

The Meaning of Organic        

 
7.             Consuming Organic

Why We ­Buy          237

Acknowledgments   257

Notes       261

 


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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Bookwomyn, November 13, 2006 (view all comments by Bookwomyn)
This book changed the way I look at "organic" food. It's a real eye-opener! I feel as if I am a well-informed consumer but I learned a lot by reading this book and doing some subsequent research. If I had small children I'd be very diligent about every mouthful of food they consumed. While one can say that organics are not as important for us 'oldsters' I'd disagree with that too because the stuff that is in our food is scary. While this is just one person's take on things I feel it's a very important book - one which everyone should read. I have friends who say they cannot afford to eat organic foods . . . I feel we can't afford NOT to eat organic. Read this book, read other books like this and tell your friends!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780151011308
Subtitle:
Natural Foods and How They Grew
Author:
Fromartz, Samuel
Author:
Fromartz, Samuel
Publisher:
Harcourt
Subject:
Marketing - General
Subject:
Marketing
Subject:
History
Subject:
Natural Foods
Subject:
Nutrition
Subject:
Industries - Agribusiness
Subject:
Green Business
Copyright:
2006
Publication Date:
April 10, 2006
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
294
Dimensions:
918x636x111 121
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