One blogger exclaimed that pigs were flying & hell must be frozen over, another wondered the implications to the small organic farmers (...all vital concerns).
I, on the other hand, flung two bags of frozen peas into my basket & yelled, "super yay!" right there in the frozen food section.
Organic food sales have gone from $1-billion to $20-billion in the past 15 years. People are much more health conscious these days, and are willing to pay more for organic, natural food, even if it means spending less in other areas, myself included. And I’m a skeptic – I am the spawn of the salesman who could sell ass-less chaps to right-winged republicans. I rarely patroned Safeway, but when O-Organics brand items began popping up in every aisle, I raised a quizzical eyebrow. Surely it couldn’t be that easy or that cheap. Possibly a saint over at Safeway headquarters sold their soul for the good of the masses, because all research that I’ve found thus far points to the real deal.
Of course it’s vital we support our local farmers and purveyors – local trumps national every time. We are fortunate here in Seattle; we have farmers markets all over the Puget Sound, and I live a couple miles away from a working farm. But let’s be honest, farmers markets aren’t open year-round, and they don’t usually carry soymilk and bread. I’m just saying that when local isn’t available, Safeway organics are accessible and affordable.
Obviously the huge chain is making a profit - corporations and charities are rarely confused. Safeway marketing spokesperson, Teena Massingill said, “When your customer demands something, you move heaven and earth to provide it to them.” Could it be that enough of us have been spending a butt-load on the good stuff and have finally been heard?
And then there’s the argument of standards. One might contend that the government’s organic standards aren’t quite as strict as they should be – just wait for the outcome of mad cow... really. Oh, I'm still not 100% convinced that the "organic" label shouldn't be in quotes. But if I listened to my cynical, little voice about every little cancer-causing, Alzheimer’s-inducing, fat-butt-enhancing thing, I wouldn’t eat, drink or wear my ass-less chaps on the weekends.
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