Sales are growing faster than any other segment of the food industry. Annual sales in the United States are topping anywhere from $16.3 billion to $29.7 billion.

Several reasons exist for both this increase in demand and the hinder of growth. If one understands these, a larger understanding exists of how the natural organic food market will help consumers.

Three reasons exist for the increase in sales of it, however, the main reason is quite simple. Obesity and heart disease are among the prevalent health related deaths of individuals.

A way to avoid both of these is to stay fit and healthy. Natural organic food offers individuals the choice of products lacking in toxins as well as far healthier foods than those previously available. It is for these reasons demand has increased dramatically.

With the increase of E coli, salmonella, and Listeria, people are becoming more aware of the food they put into their bodies. Consumers want to be healthy at all costs and natural organic food offers the assurance of no pesticides or toxins.

This assurance will decrease the amount of infections from occurring due to the lingering affect of chemicals.

One other reason people are choosing such food is because of the demand for environmentally friendly materials. Organic food products are not only free of toxins, but they are also packaged in “green” materials that can easily be recycled.

With the planet trying to take a stance on taking care of the environment, any type of material that can be recycled is a plus.

Even though several reasons exist why natural organic food is a plus, a few reasons do exist that seem to be hindering the growth of this type of market. In organic farming, labor shortages are a great setback.

Farmers are increasing the production of crops and livestock yet a shortage of qualified inspectors is on the rise. With limits in inspections a lack of consistent supply to the markets is starting to occur.

Since demand is increasing, a consistently short supply is the worst thing that could possibly happen to the natural organic food industry.

The market for natural organic food is definitely increasing. The revenue organic foods are generating is on the verge of breaking records. People are trying to become healthier and avoid sicknesses thus the demand for natural organic food is growing by the day.

However, organic farmers are slowly decreasing and effecting the supply of food. With an increase in certified inspectors and farmers once again returning to the fields, natural organic food demand and revenue will continue to rise.

When does a difference matter? Who hasn’t been intrigued during a shopping visit when you read one packet where “free range chickens” have been “sustainably farmed”, while the other packet simply shows the price and pound details for what must be the “alternative chicken” produced by industrial farming and mass distribution means? How do you choose? Is one more “chicken” than the other?

Does the carton showing happy cows grazing on verdant pasture settings along with the words ” organic food” make you stop, think and buy? And what about the buyer’s dilemma when one brand of organic milk differentiates itself from competitor organic milks because the milk is ultrapasteurized…and in the same food case another organic “raw” milk claims that it’s better for you, fresher because it hasn’t undergone any pasteurization?

What’s Meant By Natural And Organic Food?

For one, natural and organic food certainly now means very big business, with producer networks extending from Argentina to Calgary to California and beyond, with tens of thousands of retail outlets, and a market value estimated at $11 billion. No other food segment grows sales as quickly as organic food.

* The Packaging Narrative.

The story-line depicted on organic food packaging conjures up childhood bed time stories, where peacefully bovine animals pass their lives away on idyllic farm pastoral settings. You think “hmmm these must be safe foods, communing with Mother Earth” and so you buy more in a mood of culture rejection of modernity and Big Agribusiness interests. But, is this view valid or simply nave?

* The Reality.

The organic food reality? Think regular industrial business style operations. Big farms and 24/7 growing operations selling to big warehouses demanding consistent product features, reliable delivery, low prices, mechanization, just like the regular industrial food “house brands”. The pressure for “product standardization” and financial survival rapidly morphs any small scale farming ideal into a business-as-usual operation. True, the “marketing spin” and the adroit use of the organic food labeling “narratives” seems to be passing along some tidbit of information about the food’s origins to buyers. However, is this merely a distinction without a difference?

Benefit Of Organic Food- There’s More Than What Meets The Eye.

If the benefit of organic food has to do somehow with how it’s raised, or produced, then what explains the organic food benefit of ultrapasteurized milk which clearly has lost nutritional value due to the high heat processing? Answer emerges from the business reality that the product is sold over long distances, therefore requires big-time shelf life and stability. Transportation logistics converts to a “buyer’s benefit” all with the stroke of a pen.

* Does The Critters Organic Meal Mean The Steak You Eat Is Organic?

What about “organic beef”? Turns out that beef you buy that qualifies as “organic” merely reflects that the beast was confined to a fenced dry lot and ate certified organic food grains. Where’s the grass and pasture? Apparently, the actual grass and pasture depicted on the package are not necessary to qualify as legitimately organic food, under FDA packaging regulations.

* True Organic – Complex Rather Than Simplified.

In the rare case when a small farm carries a mixed stock of animals such as chickens, pigs, turkeys and cattle and then truly raises these animals on sun-based pasture grasses utilizing an organized pasture rotation plan, then you’re getting as close to organic as Mother Nature allows. No pesticides are necessary, no herbicides, virtually no antibiotics occur. Why? By exploiting the cow-ness of cows, the natural mob-and-grazing tendencies of bovines…adding the co-evolved relationship of scavenging fowl like turkeys and chickens which eat worms and waste matter…you get as close to a “free lunch” as is possible. Wastes from one species become breakfast for another. So, who picks up the energy tab, when petrochemicals are avoided? Where does the energy come from? The sun.

Pros And Cons Of Organic Food.

To the extent that the farm land producing your food did not use the raft of petrochemical fertilizers, herbicides and drugs, and that the workers did not inhale carcinogenic compounds, and that the land’s fertility and complexity were not compromised, then the benefit of organic food remains indirect and frankly invisible.

* The Moral Feel Good Aspect.

When you buy into the perception and product reality of organic food you feel better about yourself, and somewhere some piece of land and its farmers are also a bit healthier. All good stuff.

* Pricing Pains For Consumers.

Feeling confused? The pros and cons of organic food do nothing to reconcile $4.00 plus prices per pound for tomatoes, or $18.00 per pound prices for beef, or $2.70 price for milk being sold next to $1.80 containers.

* Taste Superiority?

Will organic food necessarily taste better? No. Freshness and delivery timing have a far greater impact on taste, so the local end of the industrial food chain can still “whup” the organic boys, if the food is significantly fresher by the time you buy.

* Nutritionally Better?

The jury’s out on the issue of nutritional completeness. Bottom line, there’s no way to prove any particular superiority of organic food over regular store produce.

Organic Pet Food.

Organic dog food, its cousin organic cat food and organic bird food are only three classes of specially produced foodstuffs for family pets. If you’re buying pet food from a major national retailer, then you’re buying-in to the industrial food chain. You’ll pay higher prices. Your pet’s food might be better…you’ll certainly feel better about serving it. But, is it really making a difference?

* Simple Alternative To Organic Pet Food.

Resolve the confusion. Why not cook up rice, add raw eggs and shells, plus break up a multi-vitamin into your dog or cat’s food?

The older generations grew such food when they had large gardens that fed the big families. In today’s society, however, growing a garden has become almost extinct. It has seen a revolution that has put fresh food back on the plates of people.

Fresh organic food is now available in almost every grocery store in the world. The convenience of selecting natural and organic food over processed food has become almost second nature.

No longer does a person have to travel a long distance to find a local organic food supplier. With the Whole Foods Market grocery chain, the United States and Canada have access to over 196 stores that offer gourmet deli’s, organic vitamins, and even organic household cleaners.

And with the introduction of the internet, individuals around the world can order fresh organic food twenty four hours a day.

Another positive that it has brought is the revenue that has been generated in the grocery market. The speciality of organics brings in close to $29 billion in the United States alone.

That is just a fraction of what the grocery market brings in yearly, however, it is still a significant number to be contended with. If people continue to be more health conscious, the organic food market is sure to keep booming and bringing in more cash than ever.

One of the main things about such food that is a plus is the health benefits that every age group can gain. Children are one of the main age groups that can benefit from this speciality food.

Because of the rise in obesity, kids are getting heavier day by day. However, if parents start early in making healthy choices, young ones will hopefully keep the good choices going for the remainder of their lives. Even older people can benefit from eating it. In actuality, it is never too late to start making healthy choices.

Organic food has brought back the garden vegetables that have been lacking for so long in many people’s diets. The ancestors of the past planted gardens, but in today’s world, that is not always an option.

Farmers markets and local organic food chains have made having this wonderful food available and ready for purchase year round. Going green with food has never been easier or tasted better than today with such food.