From The Fall 2005 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

Growing Up Organic

What makes a conventional-foods shopper go organic? Parenthood—for good reasons

Elaine Lipson

We know that organic shoppers come in all shapes, sizes, genders, income levels and ethnicities. Yet the “classic” organic shopper is still a mother of young children; the life-changing experience of pregnancy and parenthood is frequently a gateway to purchasing organic foods. Retailers who understand why organic matters to new parents can serve this market well.

You might be tempted to dismiss the so-called yoga moms—the ones buying organic foods, organic baby clothes, wooden toys and natural baby products, and yes, perhaps going to yoga or Pilates classes, test-driving a Prius and taking up knitting—as stereotypes or sheep-like followers of fashion. There are, however, serious reasons to protect infants and children from exposure to pesticides and environmental chemicals—reasons that go far beyond trendiness. Children are far more susceptible to harm from these substances than adults, and the consequences of exposure can be significant and long-lasting.

Furthermore, with tens of thousands of chemicals in use in the United States—hundreds of them pesticides allowed on foods—we’re still learning about how chemicals interact with each other in the body. Every exposure, be it from mercury in fish, pesticides in apple juice or fumes from new carpeting or paint solvents, adds to what scientists call the “body burden” of toxicity that we all bear.

Measuring the body burden
The human body burden is a relatively new field of study, but what we do know is alarming, especially with respect to children. In 1993, the National Academy of Sciences published Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, a groundbreaking, congressionally mandated report. Its authors concluded that infants and children need much greater protection from chemicals than adults. Yet most safety and tolerance levels have been determined by effects on full-grown adult males and without consideration of multiple chemical interactions. Some regulatory changes, especially with regard to food-use pesticides, resulted from that report, but children remain at risk from many pesticides and chemicals still widely in use today.

A new report from the nonprofit watchdog organization Environmental Working Group found that multiple chemical exposures begin well before birth, transmitted from mother to child along with vital nutrients and oxygen. As reported in Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns (available at www.ewg.org), umbilical cord blood samples from U.S.-born infants were tested for more than 413 industrial and consumer-product chemicals. Researchers found an average of 200 chemicals in each newborn, including mercury, organochlorine pesticides, flame retardants, residues from Teflon and other industrial pollutants. Even before birth, as critical bodily systems are developing, children swim in a sea of chemicals with enormous potential to affect their development, behavior and long-term health. EWG reports that of the 287 chemicals detected in umbilical cord blood, 180 caused cancer in humans and animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system and 208 caused birth defects in animal tests.

Consumer Reports magazine (in March 1999) also studied pesticides in fruits and vegetables, finding that children can easily ingest potentially harmful levels of pesticides even from normal eating patterns of foods that test within legal limits for residues.

The organic difference
To limit our increasing chemical body burden, environmental health advocates recommend far-reaching policy changes to chemical regulation, in the kinds and degree of testing required before chemicals are approved, and in levels of transparency that would allow consumers to know the effects of exposure. While changes at this level are necessary for long-term improvements, individual choices can also make a difference. That’s why many consumers clamor for alternative products produced without chemicals or with fewer or safer synthetic substances; they’re especially concerned while pregnant and while their children are young and most vulnerable.

Parents can help limit their children’s body burden by choosing organic foods, says Dr. Alan Greene, a Stanford pediatrician, founder of drgreene.com and author of From First Kicks to First Steps: Nurturing Your Baby’s Development from Pregnancy Through the First Year of Life (McGraw Hill, 2004). “There is strong and increasing evidence that just by choosing organic foods over conventional foods, you can decrease your pesticide levels,” he says.

Young parents on a budget frequently ask when it’s most important to buy organic. Children eat far more fruits and vegetables per pound of body weight than adults, so that’s a good place to start (with both fresh produce and concentrated forms, such as juice or applesauce). It’s also smart to look at the foods that a child eats most, and try to make those choices organic.

As a retailer, then, carry organic baby foods in jars as well as fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables that are popular with kids, like apples, peas, berries and peaches. Remember that organic babies grow to be organic kids; stock organic peanut butter, cereals, raisins, macaroni and cheese, juices and healthy snacks. Think like a parent, and order accordingly. Merchandise effectively so these natural and organic products for kids are easy to find and highly visible.

Natural baby care products are important, too. Don’t make your customers shop several stores to have organic and natural choices for their children. Conventional baby wipes and lotions have chemicals that some parents will want to avoid. Offer organic cotton swabs, cotton balls and a disposable diaper brand that’s free of perfumes and chemical gels. If you stock baby products in a separate aisle from baby foods, use “Did You Know We Carry . . .” signage to let your customers know what you’re offering and where to find it.

An informal survey of customers shopping with babies and children might help you learn more about brand preferences and what to add to your inventory. If you have a community advisory board, include parents who are knowledgeable about organics to help guide your choices. New parents really appreciate stores that pay attention to their needs, so along with special parking spaces and tiny carts for toddlers to push, be sure to stock a full range of products that will help them ease the chemical body burden of their precious children. You’re likely to make friends and keep customers for years to come as their children grow.

Elaine Lipson (emlipson@aol.com) is a writer, editor and author of The Organic Foods Sourcebook (Contemporary Books, 2001).