There is no reason at all to believe the “organic” brand has been seriously damaged following the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) finding that there is essentially no nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced foods. 

Yes, in the wider market organic foods may have lost some of their lustre, but purchases of “brand organic” or “sub-brand organic” will remain loyal.  Brands are about emotion, not science. Devotees of “brand organic” may have lost their nutritional leverage, but actual belief that they’re better for the environment has always been the big trust factor for organics (whether this is true or not).  This is why organic purchasers will opt for often wilted produce over fresher conventional.  Organic will continue to be an emotional rebellion against general agriculture regardless of how the science stacks up.

Paradoxically in New Zealand at least some of our best fruit and vegetable operators have adopted and adapted the lessons of organic production, so that the margin between the two systems are ever narrower.

The beneficiaries of the FSA research are those who’ve generally resisted the allure of organics, as their scepticism has been rewarded. They now feel less guilty, rather than more virtuous.

The triumph of emotion over science was revisited in the past week by the Prime Minister’s science mentor, Sir Peter Gluckman in the past week in an interview that touched on folate.
He was lamenting that science was the victim in the campaign against folic acid in bread, because the science was sound, and the opponent had undermined the decision by the use of shonky science.

And we continue to hear strident complaints about the importation of food and ingredients from China, when there is no scientific evidence for such complaints.

So, when it comes to food, decisions are closer to the heart than the head.

Tags: bad science, Brand, brand trust, food supply, John Key, organic foods, organics, Sir Peter Gluckman, Soil Association, vegetarian

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Brand, Health, PR Matters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.