sample organic cookies made from organic white flour and organic
white sugar, eat processed organic corn chips, drink organic beer, and
even smoke organic cigarettes. This was the modern health food
industry! But the worst was yet to come.
There were a number of speakers discussing the value of organic
certification. A keynote speaker was JI Rodale’s granddaughter, who
was a main player in the Rodale publishing empire. She was so excit-
ed to see the organic movement get this far and be so successful. After
her talk, she took questions. I asked, “Are you concerned that the
organic industry is made up of so much junk food that adversely
affects people’s health?” Her answer was an emphatic no. She said
that people can make their own choices.
Marie Rodale’s grandfather, JI, promoted the relationship
between organic farming and optimal health, and helped launch the
organic movement. But now, companies making organic junk food
have become the biggest advertising revenue for the modern Rodale
publishing empire. In joining with big business and the USDA, the
small farmers and start-up companies making healthy foods were
left out.
Meanwhile, consumers jumped in too. They were the ones eating
all the organic junk food. This was evident just by looking — at the
owners, employees and others working in the “health food” industry,
including those in the stores. Go into Whole Foods, for example, and
you’ll see the shelves full of organic junk. And a large part of the store
is the bakery section — complete with white flour and sugar cakes,
cookies and pies.
My level of disappointment in the organic movement has reached
a high. My first article after returning home from the OTA show,
“organic junk,” brought praise by a few but anger from industry peo-
ple. Making money, it seemed, was the goal of certified organics, even
if it contributed to the explosion of obesity not only in adults, but
young children. Along the way, the large companies, including man-
ufacturers and grocery stores, along with the two “new” health food
chains, successfully pushed for the NOP regulations to be diluted —
many unhealthy foods, food additives and other ingredients would
now be allowed in organic foods. I began writing and lecturing more
on the dangers of organic junk food, and “beyond organic” — those
110 • IN FITNESS AND IN HEALTH