Organic food? Sure, but is it cage-free?

Some US consumers want labels that tell if food is local and animals are treated humanely.

By Amanda Paulson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the March 29, 2007 edition

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CHICAGO - The organic industry may be one of the fastest-growing niches of the food world, but for a small group of consumers organic is passé.

Instead, they're pushing for reliable information that would tell consumers whether industrial or family farms produced the food, whether that food was grown locally, and whether farms treated their animals "humanely."

That makes for a crowded label. Nevertheless, some food retailers and producers are starting to respond. For example:

• Whole Foods announced last week a $10 million low-interest loan program to help local farmers – as well as other efforts to get local products into their stores.

• The Association of Family Farms announced last week new standards – and a new seal – to assure buyers that food isn't just raised humanely and sustainably but also comes from small family farms.

• Equal Exchange, the company that helped develop the "Fair Trade" certification carried on chocolate, coffee, and other international products, announced that it has introduced a few products from US farmers using sustainable practices and receiving fair compensation.

• Burger King said this week that 2 percent of its eggs and 10 percent of its pork will come from farms that do not confine animals in cages or pens that severely restrict movement. The company expects those targets to rise as more cage-free eggs and nonconfined pork becomes available.

"It's all about as much information as possible for people," says Jim Slama, president of the nonprofit environmental group Sustain, as he tours booths offering organic raw-milk cheese and grass-fed beef from small Midwest farmers. "Organic is great, but people are concerned that big business has come in. There's a whole alternative movement."

The FamilyFarmed.org conference, sponsored by Sustain and held in Chicago this past weekend, is evidence for how the movement is growing and how far it has to go.

The movement, in one sense, is relatively tiny. The organic industry has been steadily growing at close to 20 percent a year, but it still encompasses only about 2.5 percent of all food sales, according to the most recent 2005 figures. A far smaller subset of consumers who buy organic also care about issues like buying local products or supporting fair-trade principles.

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