On Aug 29, 2006, at 4:21 PM, jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> Organic food is seen as premium food and is for a large percentage
> of the market a class signifier. It is seen as
> a premium brand as much as anything else.
The other week we overheard some dairy farmers in upstate New York talking about their fairly dismal economic plight.
Farmer 1: "Gordon, the price of milk ever going to go up again?" Farmer 2 (Gordon, who was old & cranky): "Nope. Maybe we should go organic" Farmer 1 (after recounting a list of some neighbors who'd made that move): "The standards are a lot easier than they were a few years ago."
Etc.
So organic is a (partial and no doubt temporary) antidote to the long- term tendency of basic commodities to fall in price.
Doug