A study by Whole Foods Market in 2004 reported by the Organic Consumers Association found that ‘Two Years After Organic Standards Enacted, More Than Half of Americans Have Tried Organic Foods; Americans Choose Organic Products for Quality, Flavor, Environmental Impact, Perceived Health Benefits’

More recently, this growing popularity and awareness of the natural foods industry was highlighted through the success of the Natural Products Expo. Along with this are the early estimates from the Nutrition Business Journal that indicate consumer sales of nutrition products grew 9 percent in 2008 to more than $100 billion.

We decided to take a look at some of the factors of why the demand for organic herbs is on the rise.

Farms across the United States and the world were affected by the advent of industry. Tractors replaced horses for more quickly and efficiently getting a crop harvested. Factory processing increased output of farm products to markets around the world. Some changes were for the good, yet other changes, driven by more intensive agriculture, have been less so.

Large agricultural corporations with the benefit of government subsidies have, over the years, bought up family farms, starting trend toward large-scale farming. Monocultural farming also became the norm, with thousands of acres planted in a single crop, such as corn or soybeans. Single family farms, in contrast, tended to promote much more biological diversity, because crops changed with the seasons, and some of the land was often devoted to raising livestock, from which the animal manures were used to enrich the soils, which helped to keep from depleting them of nutrients and soil microorganisms. With the advent of chemical fertilizer, much of the improved soil tilth that comes from regular applications of home-made compost was lost. Chemical pesticides may pose an even graver danger in terms of biodiversity.

Pesticides are usually targeted at killing a single sort of pest, such as a fly or a moth that could damage a crop. However, they also kill beneficial insects as well, insects that in other times had helped to keep the pests under control. Along with growing monocultures came the advent of GMO seeds.

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are seeds that have been engineered for specific growing or production purposes. If thousands of acres are planted in these GMO monocultures, it may have a devastating impact on insect life and other types of biodiversity.

As information about such farming practices became more widespread, people started looking for alternatives to factory-farmed meats, produce and herbs. That alternative has been organic foods.

Organic food production, including organic herbs, has been on the rise to the extent that, according to The Organic & Non-GMO Report, several large agricultural schools across the nation have started to meet the need for more organic farmers by offering degree programs in organic farming.¹ Farmers’ markets and CSA farms offering people locally and organically grown food products straight from the farm are becoming wildly popular across the United States. Small farms that could not competitively compete with large factory farms are finding a well-paid niche in the agricultural market by growing organic foods and herbs, and are making a rebound today.
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1 “Universities launching organic farming programs.” The Organic & Non-GMO Report. Nov. 2006. Online. 16 July 2008.