If you’re like me, you at least take a serious, and guilty, look in the Organic and Vegetarian section of your grocery store, but may be put off by the significantly higher cost of these products compared to less pure, less wholesome, meat- and dairy-containing products. Part of this is due to lack of volume of organic, vegan and vegetarian products, part of it is due to the fact that it takes more work to produce them, and part of it is due to the fact that many of these products are heavily processed and packaged. You can find these products in bulk, at cheaper prices, in natural/health food stores, and sometimes at local farmers’ markets, but for most of us that means adding additional stops on your shopping trip, since you can’t get all your groceries at these places.
A recent study indicated that the exploding European demand for organic products will only be sustained if the price premium relative to non-organic products is held to no more than 20-25%. My guess would be that North American consumers are much more price sensitive, and premiums will have to be reduced to no more than 10% to attain major market share. Before botanic (meat-free, dairy-free, chemical-free) foods can start taking a big chunk out of the grocery market, and really start to have an impact on the quality of the food most people eat, on public health, on our beleaguered environment, and on the despicable practices and animal cruelty of factory farms, we need to solve these problems. That means we’re going to have to be willing to be innovative and open-minded about both the process and products, provided this doesn’t compromise the quality of these products or the nutritional, social and environmental objectives that are behind many people’s choice to adopt a botanic diet. Last June I proposed a 10-point plan to take botanic foods mainstream:
Essentially, everything we eat consists of some combination of protein, fat, carbohydrates, water, natural micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, enzymes etc.), and often artificial ingredients (preservatives, colourizers, texturizers, flavourizers, and inadvertent chemicals and other pollutants picked up in the production process). Where do we draw the line on botanic foods? I think we want them to be chemical and pollutant-free, which means they need to be organically produced. We don’t want irradiated foods with their proven health hazards and nutritional damage. And we don’t want genetically manufactured foods, because they interfere with and potentially destroy ecosystems. But as long as all the ingredients are natural and unpolluted, and the product is healthy and delicious, I don’t think we should object to a little chemistry in the industrial kitchen. Hempburgers anyone? Since cellulose occurs naturally and makes an excellent fat substitute, can we find a way to use it as a food product without mixing it in a chemical soup as is done today? And instead of poisoning weeds and dousing crops with Frankenstein products like Round-Up, is there a way to make edible weeds a ‘growth’ industry? Supposing you’re an aspiring entrepreneur and you want to help meet the need for inexpensive yet wholesome, widely-available botanic foods. Points 3, 5 and 8 of my 10-point plan above would be excellent starting points for a new enterprise. My articles on Natural Enterprise can help you through the process of building the business, and here’s a few additional thoughts specific to botanic food enterprises:
Why don’t I start such an enterprise myself? I don’t know very much about the food industry. And my knowledge and skills in chemistry and biology are abysmal. If you ever saw me in the kitchen you’d understand! But I’d be pleased to provide assistance any way I can to those entrepreneurs who have the industry knowledge and skill to make a go of it. If you’re not an aspiring entrepreneur, this is still an excellent time to Take the VegPledge, and learn more about the value of a botanic diet. |
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Re: point #8 … isn’t soy, and soy protein (soy milk, and most of the meat substitutes out there) exactly that … and at the moment it seems almost as if it has a niche / the niche to itself. I have noticed that the marketing of soy products has gotten more assertive / more mainstream over the past year or two.
An interesting article in counterpunch “Beyond Organic” about localization of food production as well as it being organichttp://counterpunch.org/minnick12252004.html