From The Fall 2004 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

The Organic Majority

Clean food wins votes from both parties

Elaine Lipson

In the best of worlds, food unites us. Sharing a meal with family and friends is a time-tested way to experience that evasive thing we call community. The dinner table is where we heal feuds and accept differences. Setting an extra place at the table for a neighbor is as pure a form of generosity and inclusiveness as we humans have ever devised.

But in this political year, even food sometimes appears to come in just two flavors, red and blue, separated by a cultural and political abyss. What could be more liberal than organic foods—right? Isn’t organic all about hippies and tree-huggers and vegetarians, eaten primarily by the native tribes of California and Massachusetts? And in the red states, well, that’s where people eat American food—McDonald’s and macaroni salad, hot dogs and Twinkies, and nothing “alternative” in sight.

Like most sweeping generalizations, this one has a grain of truth and a whole lot of limitations. The organic movement grew out of progressive environmental, consumer and community values, as did many of today’s long-term trends. But the appeal of organic foods is proving to be more universal. A recent study by Bellevue, Wash.-based The Hartman Group found that 66 percent of all consumers say they use organic products at least occasionally, up from 55 percent in 2000. That’s a win in the popular vote, any way you count it.

This suggests that organic foods are making inroads and earning acceptance from a majority of consumers, who also continue to buy conventionally produced foods. To paraphrase Barack Obama, the senatorial candidate from Illinois who set Democratic hearts on fire at the party’s July convention, blue states still have plenty of very busy fast-food restaurants—and red states have their share of organic farmers, natural foods stores and innovative organic chefs.

Concerns about food safety that may lead to organic purchasing also cut across party lines. An ABC News poll found that about half of Republicans, 70 percent of independents and 76 percent of Democrats are unsure about the safety of genetically modified foods.

The bottom line: Every state and political party has parents who care about their children’s health, and how chemicals, genetic modification, antibiotics and hormones in food will affect them. Every state has rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater affected by agricultural chemical runoff. Every state has small farmers facing hardship as large companies control more of the food production chain, and many of those farmers may find new opportunities and rewards in the organic marketplace.

Organic-friendly conservatives do exist
Natural foods supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats do thriving business in Republican strongholds like Omaha, Neb.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Colorado Springs, Colo. If business growth is a beloved Republican value, the organic foods category is a shining star in overall expansion—still about 20 percent annually—and on Wall Street, where some companies with deep organic roots are doing very well.

Many organic brands are actually now owned by mainstream food companies looking for an edge on market trends. It’s true that this trend alienates some core organic consumers who fear losing the movement’s original values, yet it improves availability of organic choices for many others.

Though conservatives are sometimes seen as enemies of organic integrity, or of maintaining strict standards for the organic label, that’s not universally true about them. When a lawmaker slipped through a provision weakening standards for organic foods in livestock in 2003, Democrats and Republicans in Congress worked together to repeal it. And the bipartisan Congressional Organic Caucus, a group formed in October 2003 to enhance availability and understanding of information about organics, includes five Republicans and one independent along with 16 Democrats.

Some unexpected voices are speaking out for organic foods in the media, too. Thane Peterson, in his Moveable Feast column for BusinessWeek Online in July 2003, spoke out against food industry efforts to weaken organic standards. “I don’t think organic food is the be-all and end-all,” Peterson wrote. “That said, I think the mainstream food industry is playing with fire—and organic food is one of the few remaining firebreaks it has left. Lowering [organic] standards now would be a big mistake.”

And perhaps you’ve heard the phrase “crunchy conservatives”? Rod Dreher defended the concept in a much-talked-about article in The National Review in 2002. “Are lefties the only ones allowed to consume quality produce?” he asked. “We made fun of our liberal friends who [bought organic vegetables from a co-op] last summer, until we actually tasted the vegetables they got from the farm. We’re converts now, and since you asked, I don’t remember being told when I signed up for the GOP that henceforth, I was required to refuse broccoli that tastes like broccoli because rustic social composters think eating it is a good idea.”

Ahhh—broccoli that tastes like broccoli. Maybe that’s the real bottom line. Everyone in America wants good, healthy, flavorful food. And when it comes to voting, citizens in all parties have voted organic foods into their kitchens, supermarkets and restaurants over and over. Fortunately, there are no term limits.

Elaine Lipson (emlipson@aol.com) is the author of The Organic Foods Sourcebook (McGraw-Hill Contemporary 2001). She lives in a blue town in a red state. Illustration by Bill Thomas (billthomasillustration.com).