• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Organic products, such as apples and cereals, may cost more than students are willing to pay, alt

Photo

U.S. organic food sales for 2003 topped $13 billion, according to the Organic Trade Association – up from just under $1 billion in 1990.

Fifty-four percent of Americans have tried organic foods, and 29 percent said they are now consuming more organic foods than in the past, reported a study sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

But despite the growth in markets for organic products, relatively few organic consumers are university students.

It is not that university students are ecologically insensitive. On the contrary, many are probably very health conscious and environmentally aware.

It is a tight budget that keeps many students from buying organic goods, which tend to be more expensive than non-organic products.

There are signs, however, that college students are beginning to join the ranks of organic consumers – especially when they realize that an organic lifestyle does not have to be a whole-mind, whole-body, whole-pocketbook experience.

Just last year, Whole Foods Market came to Westwood, bringing with it an array of organic options. Roughly 70 percent of the items they carry are organic.

Students were initially hesitant to shop at Whole Foods because they viewed it as too expensive, said store team leader Dave Gonzalez.

“Now students have realized that our pricing is competitive, and they have accepted us,” he added.

“We are seeing more and more student shoppers. Their numbers are growing on a weekly basis.”

Gonzalez said it is evident when UCLA students are on break, referring to the large number of student customers who are missing from the store during vacations.

Gonzalez has found that many student customers are already familiar with the organic products that Whole Foods carries. He speculated that many of these students were brought up in a healthy environment where natural foods were promoted.

Ashley Waxman, a first-year pre-communication studies student, said when she shops for groceries, she primarily goes by what she likes, whether or not it is organic.

“I would rather buy a really good apple than one that has just been thrown in a box, even if it is more expensive,” she said, noting that organic food is of better quality.

While she does not think that organic food is “over-the-top expensive,” she said she is not very aware of cost, as her parents are the ones paying for her food purchases.

Organic food is typically more expensive than non-organic food because it is produced without the use of chemicals, hormones or other unnatural substances.

Chemicals and hormones usually help speed up the growth process, so without them, organic foods take longer to grow.

Organic food production is less taxing to the environment, however.

“Organic, not conventional foods, are a bargain when all their effects on human and environmental health are factored in,” said Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, in a press release on the Whole Foods Web site

“Organic food prices represent the true cost of production. Conventional prices do not. They fail to incorporate $10 billion a year in externalities, the costs passed on to society at large,” she added.

Still, student shoppers are not always willing and able to pay the up front costs of organic products.

Though first-year musicology student Dani Walker enjoys health food and prefers to shop at health food stores, she does not necessarily choose organic items.

Price is most often the deciding factor, she said.

As the price of organic and non-organic goods gradually levels off, consumers like Walker may choose organic options.

Gonzalez said she believes that eventually natural foods will surpass commercial foods in importance.

Major companies including Kraft, Kellogg, Heinz and General Mills have purchased organic brands. In some cases they are even extending their mainstream products and brands to include organic materials at similar costs.

“A lot of conventional stores have developed full organic sections and the demand for organic continues to grow,” Gonzalez said.

With increased demand, he predicted organic prices will fall because farmers will bring in larger harvests and efficiency will increase.

A good deal on great food might be an offer that college students cannot resist.

Recently, even the UCLA dining halls have bought organic items because they were a bargain.

Organic bananas were purchased because they came out to be less expensive than the regular ones, said Charles Wilcots, assistant director of dining services.

The dining halls operate on a bid system, where they put in a request for food items and purchase them from the suppliers that offer the lowest bid.

“We are trying to cut down the costs for residents,” Wilcots said, adding that they would continue to buy the organic bananas for as long as they were the least costly bananas for sale.

While the relatively cheaper organic bananas seem to be an exception rather than the norm, it appears that the price of organic products as a whole is on the decline.