I have to disagree. I am a proponet of Organic food. Now, something that says "all natural" isn't Organic, that is a misconception. But truly Organic food isn't a scam.
You want a straight answer???? Here it is: Say you got a hundred acres or whatever. Section off some of it, 1/2 acre is fine, what ever you feel like. Build your organic canopy with AC/heat, water mist, auto opening vents based upon temp and wind velocity, seal it real well to keep out the bugs and don't to prep the soil well or you will just build it on top of bugs or just pots. Spend $$$$$$$$$$, wait on the state and USDA to show up and label it 'Certified Organic'. Now you you got your certification, think you will ever see them again? Highly unlikely, but you still have to maintain that VERY COSTLY section of land and grow on it. But what about that other 99 acres? LOL do you have to ask? Yea, go to the farmers market and buy organic there. You first challenge is finding a real farmer there, you might find a few with some small acreage that cannot or just not big enough to sell to the grocery chains, but mostly you will find a bunch of folks dressed up to look like a farmer and a fancy name such as SweetMeat Farms LLC. Changes are he lives in a condo in the city and drives out to surrounding towns and buys at some independent grocery stores or farmers market on the side of the roads...as close as he has ever been to farming is his kids bought him a Chia Pet one Christmas...
Then there is the real farmer. He knows ever produce manager of every decent grocery in say, Dallas-Ft Worth. He has an old beatup Chevy truck and overalls he gets a the Goodwill. He reads the grocery ads like a 16 year old reads Hustler. We are up by 430 and gone just after 5, stop in a one of his fav eateries on the way to a Grocery store. He talked to the Produce Manager at the day before and he has a load of bananas but they are not selling, he will take 5 cents a lb for them, they are label organic, he ran a big add on tomatoes, but his shipment came in light and he will take a 1000 lbs. The farmer found a store over in Ft Worth that has more tomatoes than he can sell and there is another store down the road from him that needs bananas. He asks tomato guy if he needs any cantaloupe, he says if you bring I will run an add on Thrus if the price and quality is right.
We map out our stores and swaps. before we leave out, he swings over to some fields where is truck and workers are loading some of the 8000+ acres he has in persihables. He tells them to load up the cantaloupe on his truck.
When we come out of breakfast he sez to me let me show you something son: He starts picking up loupes, smelling, feeling, looking and sets about 4 or 5 in some key locations on the load in the back of the pickup. We arrive at the store and go in and get the Produce man. We walk out to the truck, he sez, but looks and picks up one of the loupes he had placed. He pulls out a long thin bladed jack knife, he holds that loupe and cuts into it, with juice running out and over his hand, he stabs that piece he just cut and sticks it out for the man to take, he does, he smiles and sez WOW those are some great loupes I can go premium price on these and he take the whole pickup load.
It was a long day and we head back to the farm where he lives, on the way he hands me a bag and sez son, count the money...I do and its a bit over $1200 bucks, I am impressed to say the least. He looks and me and tells me: "Son, not a day I go out I don't break $1000 dollars, that is my goal every day and if you marry my daughter I will teach you this business"
I did not marry his daughter, but I sure learned a lot about the farming business. He lives in a country just outside of the Dallas Ft Worth metroplex area, he is the wealthiest man in the country, between his farm, oil, gas holdings and he owns that 8000+ acres outright.
I own a company that I had to make a decision to go organic or go "premium natural" in the products we manufacture. After looking at in depth unless you buy single based products, like carrot, or lettuce, buying a products that is made up of multiple products and is called organic,m the changes are NOT in your favor you are getting 100% organic and from a manufacture point of view it would price my line of products into the stratosphere. The lines we have use some certified organic products, but I do not advertise it. The other issue for me I know for a fact, trying to get organic is spotty at best. In fact I can read the labels and tell you that on many products that are labeled organic NOT everything is organic. Its hazy, if you make something and it has more than 50% organic you can call it organic, but READ the fine print. In my case I sell all natural products now at a price point that albeit is higher I do not have the costs or hassle of organic and I can advertise no fillers, chemicals etc etc.
Folks my age, many of us ate what you call organic till we left home or in my case got drafted. Milk straight from the cow, ate a lot of wild foods, lots of wild fruits out there, I grew up eating them, churned our own butter etc. Here on the ranch my livestock is organic, I feed no suplements of anykind and I keep my head count low in order to free graze rather then feed them from the feed bag.
