Organic food sales continue to increase, but faster than
North American production so imports are increasing.
Soybean imports, including some from China, doubled to more
than $90 million for the U.S. market last year.
So who trusts soybeans from China to be organic? And what's so great about organic soybeans anyway? And why, pray tell, are we importing any food from China? Are we short of land, water, farmers or know-how?
Organic
food sales have grown from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $28 billion in 2012 in the
U.S. where only one per cent of the farms are organic and 70 per cent of t hem
are in the Northwest and Pacific regions.
There is no qualify difference for consumers to buy organic food, but an argument could be made that organic farming is better for the soil and environment. But at less than one per cent of our farmland, it's a pittance in terms of impact.
Retail
sales have been increasing by more than 10 per cent per year. Last year, even
though it’s now from a much larger base, the increase was 11 per cent.
My mother often chided me that "a fool and his money are soon parted." I'm sure she'd say that - if she were still alive - about paying a premium for organic foods.
In
2011, certified organic cropland was 3.1 million acres which is only
seven-tenths of one per cent of total U.S.
For
corn, it was three-tenths of one per cent, for soybeans two-tenths of one per
cent and for wheat six-tenths of one per cent.
