Ken Roseboro – Organic Food, Not Just for Hippies Anymore: How the U.S. Is Dealing With Growing Demand

An old adage says that solving a big problem requires attacking it from all sides. That is what organic industry players—large and small—are doing to overcome organic crop supply shortages in the U.S. Organic supporters have launched a range of initiatives to increase organic farming acreage—from big company initiatives and smaller company collaborations to a new organic transition certification and long-term contracts to help farmers transition to organic.

These initiatives aim to address a fundamental problem facing the organic industry: while demand for organic food continues to soar, the supply of organic crops to meet that demand is falling short, forcing companies to import organic crops from overseas. Organic food currently accounts for about 5 percent of all food sales in the U.S., but organic farming acres make up less than one percent of total U.S. farmland. The U.S. imported $184 million in organic soybeans and $35 million in organic corn in 2014.

The supply-demand situation was even worse in 2015, according to Laura Batcha, executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA). “The supply shortage is holding back the market; 2015 was the peak of the supply shortage,” she said.

Read More