The truth behind organic and all-natural foods

Jason Brown created Organic To Go with the health-conscious consumers in mind. Brown, the former chief executive officer of Custom Nutrition Services, saw a gap in the marketplace.

 

"The impetus came from a group of friends I worked with for 11 years," he said. "We always ate lunch together and the food was good, but it was never clean."  

 

Founded in 2005, Organic To Go has 13 company-owned stores in California and Washington, focusing on the fast-casual segment and catering opportunities.

 

Brown said after eating fast-food and lunch-box deliveries, "we knew there had to be an alternative." That alternative has turned into a gold mine. The company's January 2006 revenue is 26 times greater than January 2005. With a broad menu of yogurts, deli meats and breads, Organic To Go provides the same food categories as other fast-casuals. The only difference is the company's entire menu is certified organic. In fact, Organic To Go is the only U.S. fast-casual restaurant with organic certification, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA).  

 

"Organic will always be a very small segment of the 400-billion-dollar foodservice industry, but it's a very important segment," Brown said.

 

According to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), U.S. retail sales of natural and organic foods and drinks reached $18.4 billion in 2004, a 13-percent increase from the year prior. Forty-five percent of those organic buyers were Baby Boomers, the FMI report said.

 

But will the growth rate continue?

 

"Organic food is not the Atkins Diet. It's not just another fly-by-night trend," said Kyle Shadix, managing partner for Culinary Nutrition Consultants. "There is a huge difference in flavor. People in middle America know the difference, and they will continue buying organic foods."

 

 

According to the USDA, organic food is produced without:

 

Before a product can be labeled organic, a government-approved certifier inspects the farm to ensure the farmer has followed USDA organic standards.  Distribution or manufacturer companies that process organic food before it gets to the supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too. But restaurants are not required to be certified to serve organic food.

 

For a restaurant to become certified organic, 95 percent of the items must be organic, and the food can never come in contact with prohibited substances like synthetic pesticides or prohibited cleaning supplies. (The USDA maintains a list of substances allowed on organics.) The food cannot be mixed with non-organic items. In addition, the restaurateur must maintain certification and inventory records of all organic goods for three years. Organic To Go would not disclose the cost of becoming certified, but the USDA offers a cost-share program that will pay up to 70 percent of the certification.

 

According to the OTA, there are only a handful of certified organic restaurants. But consumers can access LocalHarvest.org and peruse through more than 200 restaurants that claim to serve organic food.

 

Santa Cruz-based Charlie's Hong Kong is one of those restaurants. Its menu is 70-percent organic, but the restaurant itself is not certified organic. If a customer requested verification of Charlie's organic red leaf lettuce, the restaurant would have to comply. Charlie's owner Darryl Rudolph said they've never had a customer request proof of organic certification, but "customers tend to want to know the particular farm I am buying from."

Should a restaurant offer organic food on its menu and does not have the certification, it is subject to a $10,000 fine from the USDA. As of press time, though, the USDA has never issued a penalty to a restaurant for claiming to distribute organic foods. In fact, there's not even a police force seeking out farmers and retailers who sell non-certified organic food as organic. The only way a farmer or retailer can be fined is if a complaint is filed, said Joan Shaffer, a spokesperson for the USDA's National Organic Program. After a complaint is filed, a certifier inspects the claim.

 

For organic purists like Brett Bakker, one of 56 USDA organic-food certifiers, there is not enough being done to ensure consumers truly are purchasing organic products.

 

Another issue that looms over the organic food industry is the use of synthetic materials. The original Organic Foods Production Act in 1990 did not allow the use of synthetic materials, such as pesticides and insecticides. But between 1990 and October 2002, the USDA's National Organic Standards Board approved several synthetic materials for producing processed foods. This controversy led to a Maine blueberry farmer suing the USDA for allowing products containing synthetic ingredients to be sold as organic. Arthur Harvey, the plaintiff, contended that the USDA's organic standards undermined consumer organic goods and confidence in USDA labels.

 

In January 2005, an appeals court ruled in Harvey's favor. And it didn't take long for other parties to appeal Harvey's victory.

 

In Fall 2005, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) wrote an amendment to the 1990 act that directed the USDA to study whether the Harvey ruling would adversely affect organic farmers, organic food processors and consumers. In addition, the OTA requested amendments to allow approved synthetic materials. OTA officials said the amendments would take into consideration 15 years of public policy. Both amendments were in the final appropriations bill that was approved by Congress.

 

Bakker said the revisions essentially ignore the lawsuit and tailor the act to suit the synthetic-use practices. But the OTA said the case hurt organic farmers.

 

"The Organic Trade Association saw that this ruling could potentially hurt farmers because it would reduce demand for products using the USDA Organic label," said OTA spokesperson Barbara Haumann. She said if the Harvey case became law, "this could result in less organic agriculture" across America.

 

Bakker admitted that his purely organic standards allows for little growth in the organic sector.

 

"I'd rather see the organic claim be exactly that, without these exceptions," he said.

 

 

Lost in the debate for organic standards is the use of "natural," which is not a regulated term. Anybody can market their food as natural and never have to show proof, Brown said.

 

"There is no criteria for natural. There is no criteria for 'good for you,'" he said. "People are going to say whatever they are going to say to fit the trends of society."

 

Knowfat! Lifestyle Grille and O'Naturals are two fast casuals that market their menu as all-natural, but neither restaurant is certified organic through the USDA.

 

O'Naturals does offer organic ingredients, but Knowfat does not because "it's too expensive," said Efrem Cutler, Knowfat's R&D chef.

 

"For the mainstream restaurant industry, going organic may not be feasible on a wide scale due to limited availability of year-round organic foods and also because of the higher costs associated with organic foods," said Nicole Quartuccio, nutrition and communications director for Healthy Dining.

 

Cutler said organic zucchini is twice as expensive as conventional zucchini, but Knowfat has ensured natural means natural. He said Knowfat's food has been raised without hormones or produced without nutrient enhancement or preservatives. Even still, Knowfat's food does not have the USDA Organic Stamp.

 

"Your average person doesn't know the difference between natural and organic food," Shadix said.

 

Shadix said the public also associates better nutrition with organic foods, though studies have shown organic foods are no more nutritious than non-organic foods.

 

Organic To Go has not made claims that its food induces weight loss. Some of its customers claim it does. Brown believes, however, that his customers' active lifestyles have more to do with weight loss than his food.

 

"Eating organics is a lifestyle choice for people who want to feed their body with better fuel," he said.

 

"For the fresh-produce growers, restaurants have been an excellent source of income," Scowcroft said.

 

Organic To Go purchases all of its meats, produce and dairy products from certified local farmers.

 

"We make sure the farms we purchase product from are treating their water and feeding their animals right," Brown said. "Because it's important to us that the term organic means something."