Why Do Consumers Buy Organic?

Following is a presentation that I gave at two workshops sponsored by Tuskegee University in 2012.  The workshops were held in Mobile and Montgomery and they were called "Educating Consumers About Organic Foods".  My presentation was titled:  "Why Do Consumers Buy Organic".  To view it scroll down the page and click on the link:  "Why Do Consumers Buy Organic?"  It presents the results of a Nielsen poll asking why people buy organic foods and then it goes through the reasons given and presents peer-reviewed scientific research to determine if these reasons are valid.  References are given so that you can do a little more background research on topics that are of interest to you.  Please note that the web address on the last slide is no longer active.  The Auburn University Organic Vegetable Production website was taken down by the Auburn University Cooperative Extension Service shortly (within a few days) after I posted this presentation.  Auburn University no longer has an organic website.  My new website (not associated with Auburn University) is www.alabamaorganics.net.   

Alabama has the least number of certified organic farms of any state in the country.  Many professionals have debated the reasons for this.  One conclusion has been the lack of education.  Why would AL be lacking in education if the rest of the country appears to be educated on organics?  There does appear to be institutional resistance in AL to organics, as evidenced by the action of the AU Extension Service as noted above.  There was a very similar presentation written by a University of Minnesota staff member and posted on the e-Organic website:  Why Eat Organic Webinar.  This presentation was not censored as the one posted on the AU website.  Hmmm.......

Organic products are in more demand in other states than in AL.  There have been many reasons proposed for this phenomenon:  education, economics, conservatism, religion, etc.  However, another fact is probably very closely related:  the fact that AL is in the top 3 states in the incidences of obesity and diabetes, two diet-related illnesses.  The answer to why AL lags behind the rest of the country in organic production and consumption can at least partially be ascertained by searching for the answer to the latter question:  why does AL lead the nation in diet-related illnesses?

Do your own research and decide for yourself.  You can start with the Alabama Organics website which was created for the purpose of providing you with the latest scientific information.