Introduction
I. Think it 's organic? Think again.
II. Today we are going to talk about what makes a food organic and the changes in the industry.
III. We are going to explore A. "Purists" view on what makes a food organic. B. "Big Box" influence on organics. C. Organic Standards
Body
I. Purists have a higher expectation of what organic means. A. Organics must be grown without man-made chemicals such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. They should not be genetically modified . B. Livestock should be free of hormones, antibiotics and radiation and should have access to the outdoors and be fed organic feed. C. Purists believe in the ethical treatment of employees and livestock with the goal of selling locally to minimize the use of fossil fuels that would be used in transporting product longer distances.
II. Food Chains jump on the wagon for big profits. A. With the growing popularity of organics and public demand, the big box businesses recognize a profit opportunity and have begun buying up the original, small, organic farms and manufacturers. Kellogg now owns Bear Naked and Kashi. General Mills, Kraft and Coca Cola are in on it too. B. Corporate executives are picking up seats on the 15 member Board of Directors that determine organic standards. These positions were originally to be a blend of farmers, consumers, retailers, scientists. Big Box executives are filling questionable seats. C. Organic standards are negotiated so that more organic products can be made. This includes more than 250 non-organic additives including carrageenan (suspected to cause inflammation, gut irritation and possibly cancer) and other debatable additives. Some of you might argue that there is simply no way to meet demand without compromise on the use of some additives and methods.
III. We have two different opinions on
References: Has Organic Been Oversized?. (n.d.). New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/business/organic-food-purists-worry-about-big-companies-influence.html?_r=0 Organic Farming. (n.d.). EPA. Retrieved October 12, 2013, from http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/torg.html Organic Foods. (n.d.). : Understanding Organic Food Labels, Benefits, and Claims. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.helpguide.org/life/organic_foods_pesticides_gmo.htm Organics Program. (n.d.). United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved October 12, 2013, from http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&navID=NationalListLinkNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&rightNav1=NationalListLinkNOPNationalOrganicProgramHome&topNav=&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPNationalList&resultType= The Organic Myth. (n.d.). Bloomberg Business Week Magazine. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-15/the-organic-myth