Food Prices Boom, But Organic Still Sells

Sales of pricey organic foods have remained strong despite rising food prices, proving organic naysayers wrong, Meredith Niles blogs in Grist. In fact the organics industry has enjoyed double-digit growth since 2005, and while it may not achieve such impressive numbers this year, the trend suggests that consumers are happy to pay more for organic apples than the usual waxy ones.

Shoppers would rather pay more for foodstuffs without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and growth hormones, Niles writes. Besides, the price gap between organics and regular foods is closing as oil costs climb: Regular egg prices climbed 68 cents per dozen over the past 3 years while organic ones rose only 3 cents. "Organic food growth has not taken the nose dive that some thought it would," writes Niles. "In fact, it's still thriving." (More organic food stories.)