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Organic Sales Hit Record Highs In 2016

Rachel Andrew
/
flickr Creative Commons

Sales of organic food climbed to record highs in 2016.

In a new report, the Organic Trade Association says organic products now account for more than 5 percent of total U.S. food sales – that’s $43 billion.

Iowa State University sociologist Carmen Bain says the movement that once considered itself a bit of a counter-culture has become almost conventionalized.

"So I think there’s a real tension among some producers, organic producers, consumers, advocacy groups, and so forth about what direction to they want organic to go in," Bain says.

With organic products now coming from some of the nation’s largest growers and processors, many early advocates have turned their attention to small, local farms.

Amy Mayer is a reporter based in Ames. She covers agriculture and is part of the Harvest Public Media collaboration. Amy worked as an independent producer for many years and also previously had stints as weekend news host and reporter at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts and as a reporter and host/producer of a weekly call-in health show at KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. Amy’s work has earned awards from SPJ, the Alaska Press Club and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island AP. Her stories have aired on NPR news programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition and on Only A Game, Marketplace and Living on Earth. She produced the 2011 documentary Peace Corps Voices, which aired in over 160 communities across the country and has written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Real Simple and other print outlets. Amy served on the board of directors of the Association of Independents in Radio from 2008-2015.