Organic Foods in Foodservice

This is a topic of interest for me as humanity grapples with the question of how to best use our resources. Organically grown and raised foods seem to force a fundamental question when one encounters them, "So what about all the other food I have been eating?" and "What makes this so special?"

Food over the last 100 years has made radical changes for the better and worse. The application of reductionistic science has allowed us to disassemble the process and apply many techniques and technology that has altered the face of farming and food. From plant and animal breeding to soil fertilization and pest control farming has changed drastically. Food processing, refrigeration, transportation and cultural integration has radically altered the food culture.

Organic Food is a type of statement proclaiming that not all of these changes are for the better. A concern about pesticides on the food and in the environment, artificial fertilizers in the groundwater and surface waters are two obvious major concerns folks have who have read or experienced problems associated with these changes. Another big concern is the use of transgenic modification to food crops, an example being to make them resistant to herbicides. This mode of tampering with the genetic fabric of life is seen by many to be a violation of basic laws of nature and a grab at commodifying life itself by controlling patentable processes in an organism.

All of these issues present a choice when a person is deciding what to eat. We have seen this choice about whether to buy and eat organic foods focused mainly on the personal and family level with the growth of the organic food sector by about 20% annually over the last 10 years. Mostly this has been in the retail sector catering to the individual buying for home use.





It is starting to become more apparent that the foodservice sector is starting to grow in this area. Restaurants and institutions such as universities, school districts, hospitals and nursing homes are beginning to seriously consider and incorporate the organic, local and 'healthier' food categories. The reason for a comparative lag for these sectors is that there is a definite structural difference in the way the products are marketed, distributed and packed as well as a pricing disparity with the conventional cousins of organic food products.

To get everyone to agree to the price increase is a different proposal than an individual man or woman making a purchase for their home.

I want to explore the processes at work in this growing sector and how to best manage the growth and capacity.

Please share your thoughts with me. More to come.