Supermarket chains don’t want to deal with dozens of different organic farmers; they want one company to offer them a complete line of fruits and vegetables, every SKU in the produce section.
a gulf between Big and Little Organic and convinced many of the movement’s founders, as well as pioneering farmers like Joel Salatin, that the time has come to move beyond organic—to raise the bar on the American food system once again. Some of these innovating farmers are putting their emphasis on quality, others on labor standards, some on local systems of distribution, and still others on achieving a more thoroughgoing sustainability.
A few years ago, at a conference on organic agriculture in California, a corporate organic grower suggested to a small farmer struggling to survive in the competitive world of industrial organic agriculture that “you should really try to develop a niche to distinguish yourself in the market.” Holding his fury in check, the small farmer replied as levelly as he could manage: “I believe I developed that niche twenty years ago. It’s called ‘organic.’ And now you, sir, are sitting on it.” l others on achieving a more thoroughgoing sustainability.
