Erin McElhone: Organic Foods Still Aren't As Mass Market As You Might Think

Recently a study has been done in Manhattan, recording whether each retail location sold organic, local or conventional versions of 24 foods that are among the most common to be sold organically. What they found surprised them: Stores selling more than a handful of organic products were overwhelmingly concentrated on the Upper East and Upper West sides —neighborhoods that are wealthy and highly educated. Sixty percent of the borough's stores did not offer a single organic item on the list, and one-third offered 12 items or less. Only 5 percent of the stores offered at least half of the 24 items in organic versions. Only five organic items were found in 10 percent or more of stores: cheese, eggs, milk, packaged lettuce and yogurt. Organic milk, the most common item, was found in just 35 percent of stores. Some of the findings might be limited to New York because of the difference in the store dynamic: floor/shelf space is limited in the small Manhattan grocery stores, were in the south space is a lot more attainable. But because organic foods aren't just rare, but routinely command a significantly higher price than conventional — anywhere from 20 percent for lettuce to 173 percent for beef, according to recent CNBC coverage — fewer Americans buy organics than they otherwise would.

Many things that we think of as "necessities" today started out as luxuries: indoor plumbing, central heating/air conditioning, and electronics. My hope is that someday these organic foods will prevail in our economy leaving the unnatural produce and other groceries in the dust.

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