can i trust the organic market?

I haven't seen it yet. Everyone is talking about it. I haven't read the books either. But Im on board.

Food Inc. is making some waves. I have heard more than one interview with the movie's creator and I am really excited that everyone is talking about food, and that more people are growing their own this year than ever. Our garden doubled in size and I am learning more each year. I still never pretend to know what I am doing. We certainly do not grow enough to take us off the agribusiness grid. We buy plenty of groceries and I focus not perfectly but solidly on organic produce. But the movie and the buzz about it gives me a great reminder - a kick in my too often forgetful or lazy or cheap butt - to be even more mindful of what I eat, what I buy, and what I feed my daughter. I buy a lot of "nature's promise" - Giant grocery's organic store label. But the truth is that I do not trust the label. i do not have time to research the food labels that i buy. if the milk i put in my cart says "organic" i want to know that that means xyz.

turns out i have good reason to be skeptical. i do not have time to research this intently, so look into it further if you are interested, but i have done a little searching (org consumer association is a nice site to start) and there is concern that the organic milk market is not well regulated and is becoming dominated by a few large producers that supply places like costco, safeway, giant, and other stores with their affordable organic milks but do not uphold organic standards. there is a lawsuit pending. I found a great comparison rating for milk and cheese producers - have to give a shout out to HyVee, the midwest grocery that i know from nebraska, for scoring better than stonyfield! (though both are in the excellent category)

how do we - the families in this country that live in neighborhoods like mine - "vote three times a day" for a sustainable safe and humane food industry do so if, at the very least, we cannot trust the labels on the food we buy? I cannot pretend to expect my neighbors to do all their shopping at farmer's markets. the only grocery or market in walking distance is Aldi. We need to fix regulations and agribusiness political power so that there is an answer to the problem at our regular neighborhood grocery stores. meanwhile, because i can and because i feel passionately about it, i am going to be more committed than i have been and work on shopping more consistently at the many farmer's markets in b'more, not only for special veggies or treats but for the regular fridge stockers like eggs and milk. we try to be conscious omnivores, but will cut back on meat even more, to only a couple times a week and only that purchased from farmers at markets.