As concern over the use of pesticides and herbicides on the food we eat has mounted, many Americans have started growing more of their own fruits and vegetables, according to a nationwide Louis Harris poll conducted for Organic Gardening magazine.
The second annual "Organic Index" poll, conducted in late 1989 for the popular (circ. 1 million) magazine, found that nearly 30% of the Americans who said they grew their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs said they were growing more of their own food as a result of reports on pesticides and other chemicals. Thirty percent of those surveyed said the reports had caused them to change their eating habits. Just over 28% said they had sought out organically grown produce grown with limited use of chemicals.
Stevie Daniels, executive editor of Organic Gardening, says that the idea for the poll came out of staff planning meetings. "It occurred to us that we had never really taken a measure of the general American population in terms of how many people recognize and understand the word 'organic,' she says.
"When we got the results of the first poll, we were tremendously excited to find out that almost half of the people said they had eaten organically grown food and another 84% said that if they were given a choice, they would prefer to buy it. This told us that not only did they understand what organic was, they had a preference for that kind of food. The first poll was done before the Alar scare, so it was of tremendous significance that people were already concerned. They didn't have to be scared into it."
Wait and see
Consumer interest hasn't made organic items a fixture in local supermarkets, primarily because supermarkets have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, Daniels says.
"After the Alar controversy surfaced, many of the large supermarket chains responded by putting in some organic produce. But in the late winter and early spring of this year, many of those chains stopped providing it because the consumer response wasn't strong enough from the supermarkets' point of view, so they pulled their (organic) sections.
"No one really knows what that means. Is the conclusion that the mass supermarket is really not the place for organic produce? Is organic produce something that consumers should be buying at the grower's farm, at a farmer's market, or at a small supermarket that can give it the right handling? Those are the questions that get raised and there aren't any answers to them yet."
Safe chemicals
Public concern over pesticides and herbicides has also been demonstrated at lawn and garden centers across the country. Organic Gardening is sold in more than 1200 lawn and garden centers, and Daniels says that the retailers say they are receiving many requests from consumers for "safe" chemicals.
"It started last gardening season and it's been even more dramatic this year. People are coming in and saying, 'Tell me something I can use that's safe for my children and won't harm my pets.' They want to take care of their lawns and shrubs and gardens, but they want environmentally sound products.
"This and other stories we hear tell us that awareness is increasing steadily. There are companies that are trying to respond to consumer needs in this area - they're small companies, but because of the interest they're growing by leaps and bounds."
The poll found that 26% of the respondents who are active gardeners have started composting, another indication of spreading environmental concern. Municipalities around the U.S have begun requiring homeowners to recycle their yard waste, which, Daniels says, has sent consumers to their local hardware and garden stores loaded with questions.
"Yard waste accounts for 20-25% of what's in our landfills, and we knew it was just a matter of time before the municipalities started telling people they wouldn't handle it anymore. So now people want to know how to compost."
Overall, the results of the second Organic Index are further proof that a modest but significant change is occurring. It shows thatpeople are backing up their concern with action.
"Some of the polls that have asked people about their concern for the environment haven't asked what they have done about it. That's why I found our results every encouraging and exciting. Even though they're not huge, they show that some people did change. And from my point of view that's the only way we're going to turn around the problems we have."