Have you ever thought about the produce you get? Is it fresh? Organic? Local? Sometimes it can be hard to make sure that all of these boxes are checked by simply going to yourpreferredgrocery store. But fear not. Alocal business is turning that doubt into a simple online ordering systemwith its CSA(Community Supported Agriculture),Eating with the Seasons.

The Herbert Family has hadafarmin Hollister for four generations, producing organic produce. In 2000,Pat Herbert decided to create aneasier wayfor consumers to get his produce directly. He wanted people to know where theirfood was coming from; thus,the CSA was born.

In 2002, his daughter, Becky, joined the team and helped to grow the business to what it is today.With 120 pick-uplocationsspanningfrom Hollisternorth to San Rafael,Eating with the Seasonshas more than 1,200 customers that receive fresh local produce each week.Typical pick-up sites include neighborhood sites, local businesses, and even larger companies such as Google and Microsoft, where fresh produce is delivered toemployees.

The CSA partners with many local organic farms to provide a wide array of produce, dairy, and meatoptions to satisfy every customer.

Becky Herbert hasbeen directingEating with the Seasonsfor 15 years, andin 2016she openedtheFarmhouse Cafin downtown Hollister.The cafuseslocal produce and meat that you can get through the CSA, and sells local goods like fresh eggs, cheese and yogurt.In the kitchen shealsopreparespremade dips, soups and salads that she sells through the CSA.

Becoming part of the CSAis simple. Customers can gotoeatwiththeseasons.com,up for a weeklysubscription and choose an order size based on how many people they wish to feed. Then, they can choose a pick-up location that is mostconvenientand selecta payment plan. Once signed up, the customer gets to choose the goodies they want each week.

Herbert said she isproud of what her CSA has accomplished in the food industry.

"Mygoal with Eating with the Seasons is to provide anaffordable way for people to get local organic foodand alsoto givefarmersan outlet to get their food to consumers," she said.

In a time where you can get anything with the click of a button, Eating with the Seasons hopes to bring fresh foodin the same way.

More here:

Eating with the Seasons brings local, organic food to customers - Benitolink: San Benito County News

By Stephanie Hill-FrazierSpecial to The Star

"Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto

Down here in the warm, humid climate of the South, vegetables and fruits have a long growing season. What a great blessing for us! We have a nice long tomato season, peaches are sweet and juicy for a couple months, and yellow squash and zucchini seem to proliferate...well...nearly eternally.

Not that Im complaining!

Now, we all know that doctors and nutritionists say that we should all eat more fruits and vegetables, and boy, thats a wonderful prescription. We dont mind that one bit, right?

However, when we walk into the grocery store and are faced not only with the decision of what vegetables and fruits to eat, but.should we buy organic and pay the extra money? Or is it a gimmick and not worth it?

Apparently lots of shoppers in the aisle with you in the grocery store are starting to spend that extra money for organic food. The Organic Trade Association says that Americans bought nearly $40 billion worth of organic food in 2016, which amounted to about 5 percent of total food sales. Thats up from $28.4 billion in 2013.

However, the sometimes hefty price tag compared to conventional produce can leave shoppers like you and me wondering whether it's worth it. In a study performed by marketing group Mintel, it was found that 51 percent of Americans believe that labeling a food "organic" is merely a marketing ploy, intended to persuade consumers to pay more for the same food.

Others, like author Michael Pollan, say that to choose conventional produce is to leave oneself open to cancer-causing chemicals.

It helps to know what earns a product the right to be labeled "organic." The United States Department of Agriculture has the job of overseeing farms that wish to become certified organic. You can read all the technical details at the USDA website, but in short, the department requires that to be stamped organic, food must be grown using their approved methods.

"These methods integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used, according to the USDA website.

These methods do come at a higher cost, of course, but many consumers have decided that extra dollar or two is worth it for what they believe to be better nutrition and fewer chemicals.

But is organic produce really more nutritious than conventionally-grown produce? Some recent studies say yes.

Antioxidants, those nutrients which are said to help the body fight diseases like heart disease and cancer and protect our cells, have been shown to be more abundant in organic produce. According to a study performed by the prestigious British Journal of Nutrition, switching from conventional to organically-grown produce adds enough extra antioxidants to the diet to equal up to two more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

Professor Carlo Leifert, who led the British study, told Newcastle University researchers that, This study demonstrates that choosing food produced according to organic standards can lead to increased intake of nutritionally desirable antioxidants and reduced exposure to toxic heavy metals.

So if its better for ones health, but the grocery budget is tight, which organic vegetables and fruits are the best choices?

An independent watchdog organization, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), studies pesticide residue on commonly purchased fruits and vegetables in the U.S., and creates two annual lists, the Clean 15 list of produce with the least amount of pesticide residue, and the Dirty Dozen, which are those fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticide residue.

The EWG says they test the produce after it has been washed as the consumer would wash it at home, so the levels of pesticide residue would not change after the consumer takes the food home and cleans it. Since some plants absorb pesticides systemically, the group says, no amount of washing would remove the pesticides used, as they literally become part of the produce itself.

According to their latest study, the worst offenders among conventionally-grown produce, and those they suggest consumers buy organic versions of, are as follows:

Strawberries

Spinach

Nectarines

Apples

Peaches

Pears

Cherries

Grapes

Celery

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

Potatoes

Alternately, the EWG's Clean 15 list includes conventionally-grown produce that shows the smallest amount of residual pesticide residue after washing. If your budget is limited, these are the items that are least likely to expose you to those unwanted chemicals.

Sweet corn

Avocados

Pineapple

Cabbage

Frozen sweet peas

Papayas

Asparagus

Mangoes

Eggplant

Honeydew melons

Kiwi

Cantaloupe

Cauliflower

Grapefruit

Ultimately, the EWG and other watchdog groups say that if you can't afford organic produce, it is still better to eat properly cleaned conventional produce than it is to eat processed and sugary foods. While they recommend eating organics when possible, they are not saying that one should never eat conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables at all.

So, do eat up all the vegetables and fruits you can, whether organic or not, instead of processed foods like chips, dehydrated pre-cooked potatoes, macaroni with neon orange "cheese" powder, and candy. Train your children and grandchildren to do so, as well!

Here are a couple of recipes that may just help you enjoy your summer produce even more this weekend:

Stephs sauteed balsamic vegetables with polenta and fresh mozzarella

One 5 ounce package of organic baby spinach, arugula or other greens

One fresh fennel bulb, chopped (found in most produce sections nowso delicious!)

One pound of fresh tomatoes, chopped (more or lessuse the amount you have, or use canned in a pinch)

One small package fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1 medium or two small zucchini squash, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

One cup (approximately) fresh mozzarella, cubed

One tube pre-cooked polenta (or serve over rice or grits)

Method:

Warm olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Add the chopped fennel bulb, and stir around in the very warm oil for two minutes. Add the zucchini and cook for three more minutes or more, but do not allow vegetables to scorch.

Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic, pepper flakes, vinegar and mushrooms. Stir and watch for the tomatoes to begin releasing their juices as they soften, and for the mushrooms to begin to shrink and darken.

After a few minutes, add the spinach or other greens. Sprinkle with a half-cup of water or broth if the pan looks dry to you. Stir and watch the greens cook down into the vegetables. Taste for salt and add as needed. (I allowed the whole mixture to cook for 10-12 minutes so the fennel and zucchini would be tender.)

Drop in a handful of fresh mozzarella cubes, if you have some handy. Slice the polenta and slide the veggies over to one side of the pan, and place the slices on the bottom of the pan to heat, turning at least once. Sprinkle polenta with a bit of salt.

Place a round (or two) of polenta on a plate; top with a healthy serving of veggies, making sure everyone gets some of the melt-y cheese. Top with a bit of shaved Parmesan or Grana Padano, if youd like.

Note: This vegetable mixture can also be served over grits or rice, and is delicious either way!

Gingered shrimp stir-fry for one

6 thawed, pre-cooked shrimp

3-4 green onions, thinly sliced

3 mushrooms, sliced

Read more here:

What Southern Folks Eat: Is buying organic food worth it? - News ... - Port St. Joe Star

Amazons acquisition of Whole Foods, the grocer that brought pricey organic food to the masses, comes during a time of turmoil in the organic industry: The Department of Agriculture is continuing to investigate the importation of millions of pounds of phony organic grains. The move is in response to a lengthy Washington Post expos published in May that tracked shipments of corn and soybeans from Turkey, Romania, and Ukraine that were labeled organic but were not (I wrote about it here).

The Post reported that the fraudulent imports were large enough to constitute a meaningful proportion of the U.S. supply of those commodities, a troubling development that should raise serious questions about the veracity of the organic label, since these grains are mostly being used as livestock feed to meet National Organic Programs (NOP) standards. Organic meat and dairy products must be sourced from animals fed only organic grains; this has led to an enormous surge in imports over the past few years, since nearly all the corn and soybeans grown here are from genetically modified seeds, verboten in organic production. Organic soybean imports have jumped sixfold from 2011, and organic corn imports have quadrupled since 2013; Turkey is now the largest exporter of both crops to the U.S.

A USDA spokeswoman confirmed to me that an investigation is ongoing and said the agency has already revoked the license of one Turkish handler. (Organic verification is done by an outside party, not by the USDA directly; 82 certifiers oversee 31,000 organic farms and businesses in 111 countries and the U.S.) The spokeswoman also said the agency is currently investigating other evidence related to shipments of soybeans and corn. These investigations will continue in the coming weeks, and NOP will issue additional notices and notifications if there is clear evidence of violations. The USDA cannot suspend imports from these countries as the investigation proceeds, but it has notified importers about the fraudulent grains.

But this problem extends far beyond a few shady international grain dealers. Organic companies have used these non-organic grains in their products and either knowingly or unwittingly sold those goods as certified organic. The Organic Foods Production Act does not authorize recalls of organic products, but the USDA can revoke a companys organic certification and levy a fine of up to $11,000 per violation. It will be interesting to see if the USDA penalizes any domestic producers for knowingly using phony grains.

While the Post exposed only three shipments of fake grains, its safe to assume this has been going on for some time, with perhaps a wink and a nod from folks throughout the organic supply chain. No one questioned how Turkey suddenly became our leading supplier of organic corn and soybeans when those imports were nonexistent just a few years ago? This is more than someone just being asleep at the switch; this is selective ignorance on a large scale.

All of this finally prompted the nations largest organic lobbying group, the Organic Trade Association (OTA), to take action. Last month, the group formed a Global Organic Supply Chain Integrity Task Force to develop a best practices guide to use in managing and verifying global organic supply chain integrity to help brands and traders manage and mitigate the risk and occurrence of organic fraud. This might be long overdue, since organic-goods imports are skyrocketing. According to OTA estimates, organic-corn imports more than quadrupled between 2013 and 2016, while organic-soybean imports more than doubled.

OTA spokeswoman Maggie McNeil told me that the groups top priority is to protect the integrity of organic. We support strong and robust oversight and enforcement of organic certification practices and standards both inside and outside of the U.S. The group will ask for more money in the 2018 farm bill, including a 10 percent annual increase in the NOPs budget and $5 million to upgrade technology systems for international trade-tracking systems and data collection.

But until the USDA concludes its investigation and all responsible parties are held accountable for this massive fraud in our food supply, no additional tax money should go to fund the NOP. Indeed, Congress should reconsider whether the NOP, which is designed as a marketing program, should be under the federal governments purview at all. Meghan Cline, a spokeswoman for the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, told me that the committee will be taking a close look at the NOP as part of the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization process.

In the meantime, consumers of the $47 billion organic market who pay a premium for organic food should take a hard look at what theyre paying for. Folks buy organic because visions of a local farmer growing crops and feeding them carefully to his animals dance in their heads. Now that we know this is patently false, and that most of the organic foodstuff in our supply is shipped here from other countries, maybe its time to reconsider paying double for that quart of organic milk. Especially since its likely the cow is being fed phony grains from Turkey.

READ MORE: When Organic Food Isnt How College Students Are Being Misled About Sustainable Agriculture Is $13.7 Billon a Good Price for Whole Foods?

Julie Kelly is a writer from Orland Park, Ill.

Go here to see the original:

The Organic Industry Is in Turmoil - National Review

AURORA, Colo. Grocery shopping can be a big pain, especially when you don't have the time in the day to get it done. More companies in Colorado are working to make your life easier through produce delivery services.

Denver7 connected with a few local produce delivery companies. With "Door to Door Organics"you choose your produce box and then its delivered right to your doorstep. "Colorado Fresh Produce boxes up fruits and veggies and delivers them to locations for discounted group rates. Another option is "5280 Produce", offeringsmall and large produce boxes available for pickup.

For customers like Kristen Strait in Aurora, the produce delivery option is important for her schedule.

"I work two jobs and basically getting to the store or other farmers markets can get difficult," said Strait. It's time-consuming, costs money and costs gas."

Strait orders two boxes a week from ColoradoFresh Produce. Pricing for the boxes starts at $30,but she says its worth it.

That right there cuts out all of your time of walking through the store, figuring out what you want," said Strait.

At Door to Door Organics, for a family of three or more, youre looking at around $30 to $40 a week depending on the box size and your location. With Door to Door you can customize your box straight from your phone or computer.

Youre not paying for all of the different markups that are going to come with stores, youre getting it straight from the farmers market; straight from your farmers out here and youre supporting something thats here in Colorado," said Strait.

Founder of UGrocery app Eva Fry shared that the organic foods market sits at $50 billion right now with a 15 percent growth rate expected through 2021. Fry sourced her information from the Organic Trade Association.

Businesses like these could see an increase in demand with the rise in interest for organic food.

Link:

Produce delivery companies aiming to save you time and money - The Denver Channel

They had to get DEA permission to even plant the seeds. Photo: underworld111/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Theres a farm in upstate New York that grows cannabis with Governor Cuomos blessing, but plot twist: The leaves wont get you high. Thats because theyre hemp, which is like diet Cannabis sativa, and the 100 acres worth that JD Farms grows is used specifically for organic food products a suddenly trendy industry that Cuomo himself predicts could bring billions to the state. JD Farms already sells its salad mixes, hemp pastas, and cold-pressed hempseed oil to an impressive clientele that includes Estela chef Ignacio Mattos, Whole Foods, and small-batch Brooklyn pasta-maker Sfoglini.

Many people treat hemp as quasi-legal, but its a darling of the nutrition industry, which views it as a superfood equal to flax and chia seeds. Only soybeans have more protein, and hemp can supposedly boost the immune system, lower blood pressure, and suppress appetite. It also contains 20 amino acids, and a lot of omega-3s and -6s. Unlike marijuana, it has only trace amounts of THC by law, less than 0.3 percent and is better known for the incredibly strong fibers used in ropes, 90s jewelry, and Rainbow-brand sandals. But hemp-food companies are mostly after the seeds, which can be pressed into oil, processed into flour, or even shelled and sprinkled raw over yogurt. JD Farms got its break because one of its co-founders, DanDolgin, is a pro at lobbying lawmakers, after years navigating D.C.s federal bureaucracy (he worked in counterterrorism, of all things). Cuomo signed a bill saying its cool to grow hemp, and last March, JD Farms became New Yorks first farm to grow it in over 80 years. (It had to install an armed guard to plant the seeds.)

Hemps fans arent struggling to find culinary uses. Mattos says JD Farms leaves are grassy and sweet, and hes using them to garnish dishes like the Ibrico pork above. He also adds the oil to tomatoes and mozzarella, and is putting the seeds in desserts.At Sunday in Brooklyn, theyre in the spiceblend for chef Jaime Youngs fried chicken. Finally, a baby-greens salad mix is debuting at Whole Foods stores in the Northeast at the end of this month. Its a combo of JD Farms hemp leaves and kale from Long Island producer Satur Farms. Bloomberg reports its vaguely reminiscent of pot and has a lemony, almost minty flavor.

This guy packs only the necessary stuff when flying.

JD Farms has gotten cannabis into Whole Foods and restaurants like Estela.

The cookbook business has a reputation for being strong and lucrative a smart career move for any chef. The reality burns.

An online petition has already been signed by 5,400 people, including prominent Palm Beach residents.

With top chefs opening casual, all-day canteens, the morning meal is getting more creative and better all the time.

Discounts on food processors, pot-and-pan sets, decanters, and more.

The differences are minor andtheyll both make your food taste great.

Fairfax, opening in its place, is an all-day caf.

The company has run entire ads against the cheese dip, which is often full of preservatives.

Eli Miller did door-to-door deliveries for almost 60 years.

Theyll dine out at Alain Ducasses Eiffel Tower restaurant this week.

A new study found it can convince the body to store fat instead of burn it.

Stay for the boozy slushies and chicken-parm sandwiches.

The Underground Gourmets favorite places to have opened in the past year, serving everything from Texas breakfast tacos to new-wave Filipino takeout.

The United States had a good run, folks.

Its our weekly ranking of the citys most important restaurants.

Maybe its time to stop trashing Merlot.

Organizations are using the technology to depict conditions livestock endure.

He was reminded emphatically that Miller Lite is a bad beer.

See more here:

This Small New York Farm Is Dominating the Hemp-Food Trend - Grub Street

The makers of the viral 2015 Organic Effect video, which claimed that switching to an all organic diet can eliminate pesticidesfrom the body, are no longer allowed to promote the video or its claims, ruled the SwedishPatent and Market Court on July 3rdfollowing three days of hearings in mid-May. The Coop chain of Swedish grocery stores must not use the video or makeunsubstantiated claims about organic and conventional food or pay a fine of one million Swedish Krona (about $120,000 USD). The Swedish Crop Protection Association (Svenskt Vxtskydd), a trade association of nine Swedish crop protection companies, filed the lawsuit [in 2016], citing misleading and inaccurate advertisement.

The Organic Effect video totally [omits] the crucial fact that organic farming does use pesticides, albeit different than the ones used in conventional agriculture. Even though the pesticides used in organic farming tend to be naturally derived, whether a substance is synthetic or natural in origin, in and of itself, has no bearing on its toxicity or environmental impact.

Further,as Switzerland-based biologistIida Ruishalme pointed outat herThoughtscapismblog, the video left out information that conflicted with the videos shaky pro-organic assertions.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Organic Marketers Take Note: Makers Of Misleading Viral Organic Effect Video Lose Lawsuit

Original post:

Swedish court: Coop grocery chain 'misled' consumers by claiming organic food safer, healthier - Genetic Literacy Project

Much like asparagus water and water sommeliers, organic water is giving us pause. Though the concept isnt new, its surprising to see it making waves again.

Mintel, a global market research firm, claims that nearly 25 percent of Americansare thirstyfor organic water, which proves America doesnt understand the concept of organic.

As NPR first pointed out when organic water hit the scene a few years ago, something can only be considered an organic compound if it contains a significant amount of carbon. But a water molecule contains two atoms of hydrogen (H) and one atom of oxygen (O) and no carbon so its actually inorganic. And according to the USDAs labeling process for organic products, water and salt arenot includedas an ingredient that must be labeled organic.

But a trendy new company called Asarasiis taking advantage of a loophole. The brand is selling the first USDA organic-certified water, according to a report from Food Navigator.

Because Asarasis water is filtered through a living thing a maple tree it appears to pass the USDAs certification test.

Asarasis tagline encourages customers torethink your drink, in the hopes that youll try this tree-filtered water. The water, which comes from sugar maple trees, is leftover from the maple syrup making process, though it doesnt contain any sugar.

We have a beautiful base water that can be utilized in a lot of food and beverages, Asarasi CEO Adam North Lazar recently said in an interview with Food Navigator. Our goal is to replace what is used as water in the organic food industry.

Marketing water this way doesnt make it look special, Charles Fishman, author ofThe Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, told NPR when organic water started to make its mark around 2011.Lets go with cosmic water it all came from space in the first place how about selling it that way?

If youre still interesting in purchasing Asarasis organic water, check for locations selling the product.

TheHuffPostLifestylenewsletterwill make you happier and healthier, one email at a time. Sign uphere.

Read more:

Organic Water Is A Sign That Americans Have No Idea What 'Organic' Is - HuffPost

The Whole Foods Market (WFM) and Amazon (AMZN) deal has the potential to fulfill the aspirations and promises of both John Mackey and Jeff Bezos. For John, its about making healthy, natural and organic foods accessible to more people around the world. For Jeff, its about a relentless determination to create the ultimate shopping experience for everything, and for everyone and, in the nearer term, to beat Wal-Mart (WMT).

Accomplishing those two goals is also essential to their success as a combined entity. Jeff Bezos must preserve the culture, which creates the Whole Foods shopping experience. He must figure out a way (assuming he hasnt already) to effectively streamline the two businesses, thereby leveraging his core business, and dominating the grocery market.

In the early 1980s, few people, John Mackey among them, would have anticipated the impact Whole Foods Market (formerly SaferWay) would have on the grocery industry, as well as on public health. They have been the driving force, bar none, of a subsector of the grocery industry, consisting of natural and organic foods. Natural and organic foods have significantly outpaced the growth of the overall grocery industry, according to the Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service.

And the Organic Trade Association claims organic food sales grew by over 8% last year, compared to less than 1% for the overall industry. There are few signs this trend wont continue, as our society becomes more health conscious, and rising healthcare costs remain a pressing concern for businesses and individuals alike. As the sector becomes more competitive, supply costs will naturally come down for natural and organic foods as well.

Whole Foods began simply because Mackey, as an employee at a small Austin natural foods store, believed he could run his own store and wanted to give it a try. Later, with a couple of stores that began to achieve profitability, his ambitions grew, and he aimed to continue expanding. In 2011, Whole Foods announced they would aim to hit 1,000 locations in the United States alone.

In 2013, the two Co-CEOs, John Mackey and Walter Robb, told Jim Cramer of CNBC their goal was to actually hit 1,200 U.S. stores. Not long after that interview, they sailed into an unrelenting hurricane a storm, which included numerous earnings and comparable same-store sales disappointments, as well as a food-weighing scandal. Earlier this year, in February, they announced they would be closing certain stores, and scaling back their goals for square footage.

Suddenly, with Amazon behind it, the concept of 1,200 Whole Foods stores seems more plausible than ever before, and Mackey is surely pleased, however careful to express it. With Amazon as its wealthy parent, it can reach a far wider audience, and make healthy, natural and organic products more accessible for everyone John Mackeys legacy. In his book, Conscious Capitalism, Mackey mentions that it wasnt until they went public that they, as a company, really felt they had any money.

Following their IPO in 1992, they expanded rapidly, largely through acquisitions of other natural food stores, and initiated a variety of other strategies that brought them to where they are today. Now, 25 years later, theyre at another crossroads, where greater capitalization can really set them up for their next stage of growth. Success has brought new entrants galore into natural and organic foods - mainly traditional grocery chains.

Whole Foods is faced with ever-steeper price competition. They have a cannibalization problem, in which new stores eat into the sales of existing stores, resulting in disappointing performance releases to the investment community. Whole Foods highly-paid team has been the root of the culture, which draws in its loyal shoppers, but their employment costs have been too high, leading them to reluctantly engage in cuts to their workforce, which have significantly damaged morale within the company. Theyve tried several solutions to their growth problems with less than favorable results. Merging online with brick and mortar is considered the next big wave for grocery. Where were they to turn next? Whole Foods needed this deal, and its a big opportunity.

Source: Whole Foods Investor Relations

Amazon, on the other hand, has been experimenting with grocery since 2008 or earlier. According to a Bloomberg report earlier this year, Amazons goal is to become a Top 5 grocery retailer by 2025, which would require about $30 billion in sales for the category. Currently, it sells close to $9 billion in online food and beverage products, and Whole Foods sales for 2016 were $15.7 billion. Although Amazon has not been a master of this category, it is becoming the unrivaled master of retail.

Quarterly sales growth at Amazon for the last five quarters has averaged 26.6%, and operating cash flow grew by an average of 45.2% each quarter for the same period. The slow takeoff of online grocery and grocery delivery has a lot to do with trust. People like picking out their grocery items, particularly fresh produce items. Such is the reason why grocers and Amazon alike have come to understand they need to have some combination of online and brick and mortar.

Whole Foods is a master of grocery, particularly in natural and organic foods, the fastest growing category in the industry. They handle fresh food better than any other company alive today. Although, in 2016, its food and beverage market-share was still only 1.7% compared to Wal-Marts 17.3%, Krogers (NYSE:KR) 8.9%, and Costcos (NASDAQ:COST) 5.1%, its one of the fastest growing major players in the grocery industry, and it has significant experience in food delivery as well.

With Instacart, its delivery partner, they collectively deliver more groceries to U.S. households than any other company, according to their 2016 annual report (albeit, this still makes up a small share of their total business). With its purchase of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, Amazon instantly gains over 450 totally outfitted grocery stores as an alternative to spending billions developing pick-up locations on their own. Jeff Bezos and his team also gain invaluable information for moving into this space effectively this is one of the most critical factors. Lastly, they get a team of experienced grocers, a culture arguably the best in the industry.

Wal-Mart has 4692 U.S. stores in total, and 600 offer online grocery according to their latest annual report. They begin their report with, Innovating to serve customers better is how Wal-Mart became the company it is today. No, Low Prices, as a brand, is how Wal-Mart became the company it is today. A company, which indeed has very competitively priced items, but often resorts to lesser quality items to preserve its price identity.

With that also comes an outrageously poor shopping experience. As our economy grows, people demand better quality products and services. With this, Whole Foods and Amazon are the future, and Wal-Mart and other low-quality grocers and retailers are the past. Sure, Marc Lore, founder of Jet.com and new head of Wal-Mart ecommerce, has done okay at improving the Wal-Mart online experience. But thats the equivalent of developing a higher quality burger at McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) anything is better than rock bottom.

Would anyone in their right mind claim the Jet and Wal-Mart experience exceeds that of Amazon.com or Whole Foods? As Greg Penner, Chairman of Wal-Mart, and a Walton family member told us at the Wal-Mart Shareholders' meeting this year, even his own mother was using the other site up until recently.

The new Walmart.com, according to the Chairmans mother, has really improved so much! Its no secret, with online, Wal-Mart is chasing Amazons coattail. And overnight, it just got a whole lot more competitive. Not because of the size of Whole Foods, but rather, because of the number of stores/pickup locations and shopping data Amazon will now have to work with.

Im not predicting the end of Wal-Mart at all. Wal-Marts financial stats look much less pie in the sky than Amazons

WMT

AMZN

Market Cap

229.75B

461.55B

Sales

485.87B

135.99B

P/E

16.47

84.63

P/EBITDA

6.97

37.77

PEG Ratio (5yr expected)

2.94

5.22

P/sales

0.47

3.24

P/book

3.11

21.3

ROA

7.13%

3.62%

ROE

18.49%

14.18%

Source: Yahoo Finance

However, if Amazon maintains, or possibly increases its growth rate, those numbers could change quickly. With this deal, its very likely Amazon will steal some of Wal-Marts market share, across a variety of categories. People have been known to doubt Amazon in the past and been left in the dust. Many times its growth was believed to have reached its peak, and many wondered if it would ever turn a profit on its snowballing sales. We have been taught up to this point to be careful when underestimating Jeff Bezos.

Online grocery is expected to make up 20% of U.S. food and beverage sales by 2025. If merging online with brick and mortar is its next big opportunity, they may have found their solution. With Whole Foods, they have the leader in natural and organic foods, the fastest growing area of the broader grocery sector. With Amazons core business, they are the fastest growing big player in retail. They began as an online retailer, and Wal-Marts trying to become one. While Amazons sales have been growing like the universe, Wal-Marts are basically flat. Zero.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Amazon expects to close the deal with Whole Foods in the coming months, after which they will begin their integration. The big challenge will be in maintaining the culture that makes Whole Foods what it is, while simultaneously trying to inject big ideas and big changes into the grocers business model. Whole Foods is known for being compassionate and having low employee turnover, whereas Amazon has a cutthroat reputation and has one of the worst turnover rates of all Fortune 500 companies.

Amazon will find opportunity in taking many of Whole Foods grocery items, which include most packaged goods, as well as their whole body items like soaps and supplements online. Theyll also likely bring down prices to make natural and organic foods more popular among a larger audience. Jeff Bezos has a history of undercutting competitors, often running losses on certain items to win the market share. If he plays this game with Whole Foods, hes betting the natural and organic foods industry continues to scale, driving supply costs down accordingly.

With a larger Whole Foods footprint, Bezos will have more opportunities to gain Prime users his ultimate goal, creating a slew of other opportunities. According to Wal-Marts annual report, they plan to have online grocery available in an additional 500 stores by 2018. The question is, who will do a better job of merging online shopping with brick and mortar? Clearly, Amazon. Amazon has a long way to catch up with Wal-Marts total sales, but Walmart.com and Jet.com have a long way to catch up with Amazons online business.

If Jeff Bezos can continue to hover on Day 1, as he likes to call it, and maintain these spectacular growth rates by effectively integrating his business with Whole Foods, its believable the market will take Amazon stock to $1 trillion. Whether or not it ever justifies that figure with profitability is another story.

Disclosure: I am/we are long WFM.

Business relationship disclosure: I am part of a company that does business with WFM.

Additional disclosure: I/we might initiate a Long position in AMZN over the next 72 hours.

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Make No Mistake: Wal-Mart Executives Are Losing Sleep - Seeking Alpha

Scott Horsfall is Chief Executive Officer of the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement (LGMA). The LGMA verifies that Californias handlers of lettuce, spinach and other leafy green products are following a set of accepted food safety standards on the farm. The LGMA was formed in February of 2007, and Horsfall joined the organization in May of that year as its first CEO. From 2002 through 2006 Horsfall was CEO of the Buy California Marketing Agreement, the organization designed to promote sales and consumption of locally-grown produce. Joining the California Grown campaign as Chief Operations Officer in 2002, Horsfall oversaw the creation of its marketing programs, and was promoted to CEO in 2003.

Prior to joining California Grown, Horsfall was President of the California Kiwifruit Commission (CKC), a position he held from 1997 to 2002. The CKC implements marketing and research programs on behalf of the states 400+ kiwifruit farmers.

Horsfall began his career in California agriculture with the California Table Grape Commission, Fresno, CA, where he served most recently as Vice President, International Marketing. At the CTGC, Horsfall oversaw an annual $3.5 million export promotion program. During his tenure grape exports increased over 600% in 14 years. He has served on several industry boards and committees. He served as chairman of the United States Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC), was a member of the Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee (ATAC) for fruits and vegetables and is a past chairman of the Produce Marketing Associations International Trade Conference.

Horsfall has a MA in international relations from California State University/Fresno and a BA in communications from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

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In Move to Expand into Organic Food, Campbell's Buys Pacific Foods - FoodSafetyTech (blog)

In case there are any doubts left after the recent jump into 100-plus-degree weather, summer is officially here. Fortunately, the heat is accompanied by the bounty of the Yakima Valley: cherries, berries, peaches, apricots, hops and all the rest.

With the abundance of produce, another question arises: Buy organic or not?

Reasons for eating organic vary from person to person, but they generally focus on personal health and safety and environmental sustainability. And organic production continues to increase worldwide, with Washington state making a strong showing: The state accounted for more than 90 percent of all U.S. organic apples and sweet cherries produced in 2015, along with more than 80 percent of organic pears.

But growers and agricultural experts say there are some common misconceptions about what organic truly means.

Organic production has a lot of benefits, yet it does not completely ensure that the product is food safe, said Mike Roy, president of operations at Roy Farms, which has 450 acres of organic hops, apples and blueberries.

For smart, safe grocery shopping, here are some facts about organic production, focusing on produce.

PERCEPTION: Organic produce is perfectly safe to eat, as is.

REALITY: Organic production really addresses pesticide and herbicide residue levels, Roy said. However, many environmental factors are still out of farmers control: A lot of these things like listeria outbreaks, E. coli, salmonella those arent necessarily addressed through organic certification.

The risk of pathogens affects organic and conventional produce.

One of the things to keep in mind on all fresh produce is, theres no kill step. None of the produce is cooked, as opposed to meat, which is usually heated to high enough temperatures to kill nasty bacteria, said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington Tree Fruit Association.

Fruits and vegetables are grown out of doors ... they sit in open bins at the store, where people handle them, he said. The expectation should never be that fruits and apples are completely devoid of bacteria. You should always wash your food.

As for which products are best to eat organic, thats a personal preference, local growers say.

Theres a popular dirty dozen list that grades foods on how contaminated they are, though its decried by conventional produce growers.

Many consumers make choices based on a foods protective skin, says David Granatstein, sustainable agriculture specialist with the Washington State University Extension in Wenatchee.

The core purchasers of organic food only buy organic products; if they dont have an organic option, they usually wont buy that product, Granatstein said.

But another group of purchasers does more of a risk-assessment process when deciding, he said: If theyre buying a banana, the risk of pesticide residue after they peel it seems much smaller than the risk on a bell pepper, for example.

Customers also consider how much of a product theyre consuming, and whos eating it: If youre feeding yourself versus your 2-year-old baby, you may have a very different process, he said.

PERCEPTION: Organic farms dont use pesticides or chemicals.

REALITY: Everything is made up of chemicals water, air, beer, chocolate.

The National Organic Program keeps a National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for organic crops and livestock, which can change from year to year.

Generally speaking, organic production uses nonsynthetic or natural substances and prohibits synthetic products, but there are some exceptions for specific uses as long as the substances do not contribute to contamination of crops, soil or water.

A few of those synthetic exceptions are chlorine-based products, copper sulfate, lime sulfur and peracetic acid.

While organic farms are careful to apply only approved substances, they are vulnerable to pesticide drift from other farms, even from far away.

A farmer could be spraying pesticides 200 miles away, but if the winds are right, it could end up being rained onto an organic field, contaminating the crop.

They have allowance for that, Granatstein said. Unless you live in a bubble, in a greenhouse, youre out in the real world. You cannot guarantee 100 percent protection.

Instead of conventional insecticides, farms may employ predators to take care of nuisance insect populations: Roy said their farms have released lacewings, predatory mice and ladybugs, as well as hawks to go after birds that eat the blueberries.

Fun tidbit about the ladybugs: While they do help get rid of aphids, Roy said they also farm aphids, keeping the population at a certain level to maintain their food source. For that reason, Roy Farms had to fire ladybugs as crop protectors.

PERCEPTION: Organic means small mom-and-pop operations

REALITY: Often, but not always. Organic farms come in all sizes, including big industrial operations, just like conventional farms.

As of January, Yakima County was home to nearly 100 certified-organic farms, orchards and ranches producing certified-organic crops or animal products, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Of those, 60 were listed with less than 30 acres of organic production, including 27 with less than 10 acres. A few even reported less than 1 acre.

On the other hand, 23 Yakima County farms were listed at more than 150 acres each. Zirkle Fruit reported more than 3,200 total acres of organic crops spread among 10 ranches.

In 2015, organic farms in Yakima County reported $55.9 million in sales, up 36 percent from 2013, according to Washington State University data.

Achieving organic certification is at least a three-year process, as fields and orchards must go exactly three years without being sprayed with non-approved pesticides or herbicides before the crop can be considered organic.

Growers have to submit a detailed plan to the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Organic Program citing which substances they will use on their crops, making sure they comply with national regulations.

One aspect of organic farming that is now being adopted by mainstream farming is its lessons in soil health and sustainability, Granatstein said.

Organic systems tend to store more carbon in the soil, he said, which is good for the soil and the atmosphere; and there tends to be greater biodiversity in organic systems.

Climate resilience farms are able to weather adverse conditions, drought or flood, he said. All the extremes tend to be buffered when you do improve the soils.

Thats where much of Roys interest lies: The environmental benefits of organic systems, and ways to go beyond purely organic systems to achieve even greater balance and sustainability.

Organic certification doesnt look at energy use or carbon footprint, Roy said.

I do think theres a better undefined system that needs to be fleshed out in future years, he said. Something that is truly sustainabile for the environment and for production.

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Digging deeper into organic produce myths vs. reality - Yakima Herald-Republic