In an article written for the New York Times business section published on May 12, 2006, Wal-Mart announces that they are going organic. "As the nation's largest grocery retailer, Wal-Mart has decided that offering more organic food will help modernize its image and broaden its appeal to urban and other upscale consumers."

Wal-Mart is not the only large company to notice the appeal of organics to a growing community. Safeway, Kellog and even Kraft have jumped on the band wagon with organic version of their popular products such as Organic Rice Krispies and organic macaroni and cheese.

The question remains, is this a good thing? On the one hand it employs more organic farmers and organic products are reaching an even wider source of people, but on the other hand, are the products able to maintain the same standards? No.

In order to mass produce the new organic products, the standards are most definitely lowered. To be certified as organic by the U.S. Agriculture Department, food must be "free of most pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, genetic modification, and irradiation." Additionally many argue that true organic food also entails respect for locally produced food, respect for livestock and employees, and environmentally sustainable practices. Most of the larger producing organic products are unable to maintain all these standards.

Many of the companies which supply these greater chains are being questioned on their ability to maintain this quality. Wal-Mart, for instance, was able to a cut a deal of 15% below cost of its competitor Organic Valley; with industrial milk giant Dean Foods, owner of Horizon milk. Wal-Mart expected Organic Valley to follow suit, but instead they pulled out. "Looking for ever-lower costs comes at a real cost to sustainability," says George Siemon, Organic Valley's chief executive. "To have consistent supply, you have to change the paradigm of thinking and think about long-term partnerships."

In order to ensure the quality of your organic food, I encourage you to look at the process it has gone through, because it still remains true that, although many diet fads come and go, the fewer people and processes that have touched your food the healthier it is.