Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew

UPDATED WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHOR

"A book that will alter the way we think about what we eat and the business forces that shape what we eat."—Ken Auletta

Everybodys going organic! But where did this craze for organic food come from and how did it manage to win a seat at the nation's table? What is organic food? Is it really better for you? And why are so many of us buying it?

In Organic, Inc., business writer Samuel Fromartz looks at organic foods anti-industrial origins, its unlikely innovators, and its classic conundrum of free-market triumph—in which a booming industry ultimately risks betraying its founding ideals. A primer on the business and culture of food, Organic, Inc., tells the fascinating tale of the newest trend in American consumption.

"Fromartz does an excellent job of investigating consumer behavior and the trends that have permanently changed the food landscape."—San Francisco Chronicle

"A fair and needed history of the booming and feuding industry."—Des Moines Register

Samuel Fromartz is a business journalist who has written for Fortune, Business Week, and Inc. This is his first book. He lives in Washington, DC.

(Ken Auletta)

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 choices 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.

"Sam Fromartz has the ability to transform an important subject into an interesting one, as he does with this vivid, vital book, Organic, Inc. No, it's not a new wave or diet book. It's a book that will alter the way we think about what we eat and the business forces that shape what we eat."—Ken Auletta

"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

"With one eye on organic food’s past and one eye cast on its future, Samuel Fromartz has a comprehensive vision of an industry at a crossroads. Here is a voice that reminds us of our power as consumers. Anyone reading Organic, Inc. will be inspired to put his money where his mouth is."—Dan Barber, chef/owner Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns

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 choices 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.

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