ALBANY – Have you ever been to the grocery store and noticed that products with organic labels often have higher price tags than the same items without that label?
They do, but there are reasons for the difference.
Take, for example, a few items in a local supermarket.
A pack of two organic cucumbers can cost $ 3.49. Two non-organic cucumbers cost $ 1.36, less than half. Similarly, a two-pint Vanilla La Yogurt was priced at $ 2.99 during a recent visit. Stonyfield’s other organic option was priced at $ 4.59.
Despite the higher price, the Organic Trade Association reported that organic sales “soared to new highs” in a 2020 survey, increasing 12.4 percent to a record $ 61.9 billion. Organic food alone saw a similar increase of 12.8 percent, bringing it to a total of $ 56.4 billion from transactions.
And in 2016, the United States Department of Agriculture pointed to previous research that found organic price premiums from 2004 to 2010 to be “more than 20 percent of the price of non-organic products” for 17 surveyed commodities.
Experts and farmers said that the disparity in organic and inorganic costs is due to the difference in agriculture and production.
Buying an organic product means that you are investing in an item that was created or grown through all-natural processes without chemical or artificial agents, not to be confused with products that are marketed as “all-natural.”
The label “natural,” according to Organic Valley, an organic food cooperative associated with several New York farms, “simply means that a food product contains no added colors, artificial flavors or synthetic substances, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA )). ”
“Natural” products are not subject to a regulated standard like organic ones, which means that natural farmers can still use chemical and synthetic pesticides, and genetic modifications as part of their practices.
Eric Sheffer, a sixth-generation farmer who sells milk to Stonyfield, became an organic convert in 2014.
Sheffer scrapped his conventional methods after considering the switch for years and finding a small window to make the expensive investment. Transforming the farm into an organic vehicle with crops unaffected by chemical fertilizers and other commercial additives such as herbicides and pesticides was a three-year procedure, required by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
He said the land’s transition wasn’t so remarkable until last year when the change from the animals’ diet to a completely organic regimen was revealed as the “real financial stab.”
“The animal transition was absolutely brutal financially,” he said, emphasizing that the cost of organic grain and feed without additives doubled and tripled, causing the cows to produce less.
“For a couple (of) hundred cows, you are looking for a minimum of half a million dollars for the transition,” he noted.
Going organic meant sustaining a “fairly significant” hit in production. He said his cows produced less without the “strong” additives that they absorb in conventional grain. What the farm used to produce in a couple of hours now took about a full day to produce.
Taking a step back, he noted that the largest conventional farms can produce between 25,000 and 30,000 pounds of milk a year, but smaller organic operations like his generate about half of that.
Sheffer, like other organic farmers, also had to account for the annual fees associated with obtaining official USDA and state certifications. The amount each farm pays for the designation depends on the size of its operations. Sheffer estimated that he pays between $ 5,000 and $ 7,000 a year for the seal of approval.
Organic Valley said the organic label “is not easy to earn” and explains in part why consumers pay more for these products.
“Farms undergo regular inspections and audits to ensure that all standards continue to be met over time,” the company said. “Organic is one of the strictest food certifications in the country, and organic farming is an approach to growing food with nature.”
“Our farms are not small gadgets in a large industrial machine that produces processed foods. That higher cost pays for healthier and less ‘artificial’ foods on your table, ”he added.
Stephen Hadcock, team leader for the Cornell Cooperative Extension Capital Area Agriculture and Horticulture Program, explained that following these comprehensive guidelines, in many ways, potentially leads to lower production for organic farmers who, instead of relying on machinery, they choose to use physical labor that takes more time.
Essentially, spending a few extra pennies or dollars for the organic seal covers the farmers’ costs of using more labor and additional expenses related to natural crop protection. The payoff, Hadcock said, is “philosophical” for farmers who are committed to the morality of letting Mother Nature provide.