The Organic Faith

The three weeks I have been in Boston, I have been buying my groceries from the Whole Foods store. The Whole Foods chain, as some might know, is the champion of organic food in the US, whatever that means to the organic faithful. What it means to me is that stuff at Whole Foods is much expensive than what you get elsewhere. In fact the pack of eggs I bought had a slip of paper inside, explicitly saying: "We are the most expensive in the market, but check out the quality." After consuming half a dozen of those eggs, I was still wondering if my tongue is too low class to perceive egg quality. Add to the high cost of foods, there are always students standing outside the Whole Foods stores, asking for $15-20 donations for "Green" casues .

But coming to the larger question: Is all Organic food better than industrially produced food? Despite tall claims by Organic producers, there is no conclusive evidence yet in any direction. At least, the regulators in developed countries (e.g. US Dept. of Agriculture) have tried to ensure that people who label their produce "Organic" follow stringent production standards. All the same, Organic has become a successful concept. Whole Foods has clocked sales of ~$4bn and is growing. What used to be popular only among hippies, has now been embraced by the middle class. Even the mighty Wal-Mart is exploring this segment. What explains this success given high prices and lack of any conclusive evidence? Well, if the concept of God can be so successful while being expensive (prayer offerings, gilded temples) and lacking any evidence, why can't organic food follow the same track? Also, there will always be a segment of people who will believe that old times were much better than present days. That’s why many of us still live by religious texts written hundreds of years back by people who also knew that the world was flat without any America in it. And that’s why some people will continue to have more faith on clinically unproven medicinal herbs and organic food, even though they were developed by our forefathers whose average life span was half that of ours.

Why do I go to Whole Foods? Because it is right next door to my apartment and there are no large supermarkets nearby. Also the staff at Whole Foods is much friendlier than those at Wal-Mart, Safeway or Target. Probably most people go by the same thought process.