Grist | Topics | 23 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 23 of 23
Headline	Author	Published	Section
Bar None Clif Bar's husband-and-wife CEO team talk about staying independent in a Big Organic world	Bonnie Azab Powell	25 Sep 2008	Grist Feature
Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson. Photo: Bart Nagel Walk into Clif Bar's Berkeley headquarters, and you might think you've entered greenie-nonprofit world: multiple recycling stations, cruiser bikes kept for employees' lunchtime use, and a fridge that serves as a pickup point for a local farm's community-supported agriculture program. Vending machines peddle Amy's O ...
Topics: business, food, green living, green products, greenish companies, organic food, shopping (all these topics)

Whole in the Middle Whole Foods tries to shake its elitist reputation		04 Aug 2008	News
Posted at 4:11 PM on 04 Aug 2008 Whole Foods Market, with its gleaming displays of organic produce, antibiotic-free meat, and vegan baked goods, has long branded itself as a high-quality grocery retailer -- thus earning the nickname Whole Paycheck and a reputation for elitism. But with the economy sagging -- bringing with it, according to some analysts, consumer interest in organic food -- Whole Foods is aiming to tout itself ...
Topics: advertising, business, economy, food, greenish companies, news, organic food, shopping (all these topics)

Milking sustainability Sustainability goals for the U.S. dairy industry	Meredith Niles	03 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Last week, we witnessed the dairy industry hold their first ever Sustainability Summit for U.S. Dairy. The week long conference culminated in the announcement of an industry-wide commitment and action plan to reduce milk's 'carbon footprint' while simultaneously increasing business value (translation: profit) from farm to consumer. But how truly 'green' are their efforts? Sustainability -- ah, it sounds so good doesn't it? In recent years it has become the buzz ...
Topics: business, climate, food, greenhouse-gas emissions, organic food (all these topics)

What I saw at the Summit Thoughts from the big organic confab in Boulder	Tom Philpott	01 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Attending last week's Organic Summit, held within the tasteful confines of the St. Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder, was a very, well, organic experience. It started with the hotel itself. The St. Julien, a human-scale building right in downtown Boulder, exudes calm. The lobby, a light, airy space overlooking a sun-dappled garden with mountain views behind, practically echoes with a low and relaxing ohhhmmm. As far as accommodations, I get drowsy just thinking about the ...
Topics: business, food, greening biz operations, organic food, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Organic milk: survival of the biggest? Thoughts on the NODPA/Stonyfield debate over organic dairy	Tom Philpott	12 Mar 2008	Gristmill
About four years ago, I attended a workshop by Jonathan White, the maverick New York State cheese maker/baker/dairy farmer of Bobolink Dairy. Photo: iStockphoto Like a Southern Baptist preacher thundering from the pulpit -- only with a Northeastern accent and lots of good humor -- White had a message to deliver. He exhorted conventional dairy farmers to sell half of their herds, invest the proceeds in cheese-making equipment, and turn their remaining cows ...
Topics: economy, agriculture, food, organic food, business (all these topics)

Conditions sour for organic dairy farms Dairy producers' alliance responds to Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm	Guest author	10 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following guest essay is the latest installment in a debate between Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, and Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm. Maltby opened the debate with this post; Hirshberg responded here; Maltby's response follows below. We are airing the debate at length because we think our readers should know that our organic dairy farmers have reached a crisis point -- squeezed by production costs that are ...
Topics: agriculture, business, economy, food, organic food (all these topics)

Stonyfield Farm responds Gary Hirshberg argues that his company is doing a lot to support organic dairy farmers	Guest author	07 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest post from Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg, written in response to a post by Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. ----- Gary Hirshberg Londonderry, N.H.: These are difficult times for the organic dairy industry, and as we have demonstrated consistently for over a decade, we are deeply engaged in the effort to find solutions that balance escalating supply costs wi ...
Topics: agriculture, business, food, organic food (all these topics)

How now, organic cow? As energy, healthcare, and feed costs skyrocket, organic dairy farmers get squeezed	Guest author	07 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest post by Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. ----- Deerfield, Mass.: What is more important to Stonyfield Farm and HP Hood, market share or the health and welfare of their organic family farmers? Photo: iStockphoto If you ask 24-year-old Mark Ouellette Jr., who supplies organic milk to HP Hood that is sold under the Stonyfield label, his answer is very clear: market share. 'I'm losi ...
Topics: agriculture, business, economy, food, organic food (all these topics)

Venti Your Frustration Starbucks will no longer offer organic milk		15 Jan 2008	News
Posted at 4:11 PM on 15 Jan 2008 Photo: gisarah Starbucks will cease offering organic milk to its coffee-quaffing customers at the end of February. The company has offered organic cow juice since 2001 at an extra charge, but "orders of drinks made with organic milk have consistently been a small percentage of total orders," according to a spokesperson. The chain has stopped using milk from cows shot up with artificial ...
Topics: business, food, green living, news, organic food (all these topics)

The Whole Foods behemoth Trade consultancy: Whole Foods will 'consolidate supply chains'	Tom Philpott	30 Oct 2007	Gristmill
Apparently, I'm not the only one who worries about what the Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger will mean for organic-foods suppliers. In a report published by Organic Monitor, a European-based consultancy working on contract for Decision News Media, analyst Amarjit Sahota has sounded an alarm about Whole Foods' growing power. Organic Monitor calls itself a 'business research & consulting company that specializes on organic & related industries.' You can read Sa ...
Topics: business, food, organic food (all these topics)

Udderly awesome Starbucks vows to make 100 percent of its milk rBGH-free	Glenn Hurowitz	27 Aug 2007	Gristmill
If you haven't been ordering that double whipped Frappuccino at your local Starbucks with soy milk, you've likely been gulping down Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). It makes cows produce more milk, but it's thought to increase the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer in humans (if only they could come up with something to make cows squirt machiatto directly from their udders). But now, after two years of pressure from the organization Food and Wate ...
Topics: business, food, greening biz operations, organic food (all these topics)

Putting the Source Before the Cart Regional grocery chains seek 'organic retailer' certification		03 Jul 2007	Daily Grist
Putting the Source Before the Cart Regional grocery chains seek "organic retailer" certification In some mainstream grocery stores, organic options are shunted to the side, put in a sort of "Food for Freaks" section where only the bravest shoppers dare to tread. But increasingly, regional chains are getting certified as "organic retailers" ...
Topics: business, food, green living, greening biz operations, news, organic food, shopping (all these topics)

Organic lite 'Organic' beer with conventional hops, and other USDA wishes	Tom Philpott	18 May 2007	Gristmill
It's happening again -- the USDA is scheming to water down organic standards for key products. This time, the targets are that sacred duo, beer and sausage. Beer is composed essentially of two agricultural products: barley and hops. If the USDA gets its way, makers of 'organic' beer will be able to use conventionally grown hops. And sausage is made up essentially of ground meat stuffed into casing made of animal intestines. The USDA would like manufacturers to ...
Topics: agriculture, business, Department of Agriculture, food, greenwashing, organic food (all these topics)

Wal-Mart's organic bust And another way forward.	Tom Philpott	12 Apr 2007	Gristmill
On April Fool's Day, Grist ran a fake bit on how Wal-Mart had 'pulled the plug' on much-ballyhooed green initiatives, including its plan to to become the nation's number-one organic grocer. 'In the end, our customers value low prices more than sustainability, and at Wal-Mart, we listen to our customers,' Wal-Mart's CEO (fictionally) said. As so often happens these days, fact may be leaping ahead of satire. BusinessWeek reported today that the retail behemoth ...
Topics: business, food, greenwashing, organic food, Wal-Mart (all these topics)

Poor Taste Why The Economist's recent assault on 'ethical food' missed the mark	Tom Philpott	03 Jan 2007	Victual Reality
Why The Economist's recent assault on "ethical food" missed the mark By Tom Philpott 03 Jan 2007 Last month, the influential British newsweekly The Economist took the measure of the sustainable-food movement and found it wanting. "There are good reasons to doubt the claims made about three of the most popular varieties of 'ethical food': organic food, fair-trade food, and local food," the journal declared, and proceeded to subject each to withering analysis. Do ...
Topics: agriculture, business, consumerism, farmers markets, food, green living, local food, organic food, sustainable ag, Victual Reality (all these topics)

McKibben on 'green' Wal-Mart Wal-Mart may sell organic, but it also thrives on ruined downtowns and long freight hauls.	Tom Philpott	21 Nov 2006	Gristmill
I've always been a bit appalled by the polite applause with which some enviros greet Wal-Mart's 'green' initiatives. Seems to me that the only way the company could really 'go green' would be to stop selling cheap plastic crap shipped in from halfway around the world in vast suburban megastores. In other words, completely change it's business model -- not, say, adopt 'green' building techniques for its appalling superstores, or haul mass-produced 'organic' food from Cal ...
Topics: Bill McKibben, business, food, greening biz operations, greenish companies, organic food, Wal-Mart (all these topics)

Stonyfield Farm defends its organic ideals Business Week article gave some the wrong impression, company says	Lisa Hymas	02 Nov 2006	Gristmill
Stonyfield Farm, purveyor of organic yogurt and milk, is concerned that some folks got the wrong idea about its business strategy from a recent Business Week article about the big-ification of organic, which I pointed to a couple of weeks ago. Stonyfield has now posted a response and clarification on its website, emphasizing its long-standing commitment to supporting organic family farms. It also points out that it hasn't yet bought one dash of powdered milk from New Ze ...
Topics: business, food, organic food (all these topics)

The organic myth Business Week cover story looks at the watering down of the organic ethos	Lisa Hymas	13 Oct 2006	Gristmill
A fine feature story in Business Week this week -- The Organic Myth, by Diane Brady. 'As it goes mass market, the organic food business is failing to stay true to its ideals,' the cover proclaims. When I first glanced at the mag, I expected rah-rah boosterism for corporate organics and spite for old-school purists, but the article actually struck me as a pretty fair assessment of the culture clash between the organic ethos and the Big Biz model -- the gist being that th ...
Topics: business, food, organic food (all these topics)

Up Against the Wal-Mart Big buyers make organic farmers feel smaller than ever	Tom Philpott	23 Aug 2006	Victual Reality
With Whole Foods continuing to dazzle Wall Street with its growth and Wal-Mart vowing to become the world's No. 1 organic grocer, now would seem to be a wonderful time to be an organic farmer -- particularly one with enough acreage to supply the corporate giants. According to classical economics, when demand jumps, supply should follow, pulled up by the good's rising price. But a funny ...
Topics: agriculture, business, California, food, organic food, Victual Reality, Wal-Mart (all these topics)

California Connected on organic and Wal-Mart	David Roberts	10 Jul 2006	Gristmill
A nifty PBS show called California Connected recently did a special on organic food, focusing on Wal-Mart's decision to get into the organic-food market. It's unusually substantive and thoughtful (at least relative to cable tv fare). Check it out.
Topics: business, food, organic food, Wal-Mart (all these topics)

Mackey v. Pollan	David Roberts	20 Jun 2006	Gristmill
Foodie journalist Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (review here; interview with Pollan here) makes some disturbing points about the increasingly industrial character of organic agriculture. It uses as its exemplar of "industrial organic" the burgeoning Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey took quite a bit of umbrage at that, and responded with a long, passionate letter about the work his store has done to nurture the organic mov ...
Topics: agriculture, business, food, industrial ag, organic food (all these topics)

Wal-mart's organic bomb	Kif Scheuer	12 May 2006	Gristmill
Melanie Warner at the NYT reports today that Wal-Mart is about to dramatically increase its organic food offerings. In very understated fashion, she says, 'Wal-Mart's interest is expected to change organic food production in substantial ways.' Um, yeah, it sure will. Wal-Mart's plan is to sell organics ~10% over the price of non-organics -- a much closer premium than you can get elsewhere. It's also getting brands like Pepsi, Rice Krispies, and Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese in th ...
Topics: business, food, organic food, Wal-Mart (all these topics)

Nell on Earth An interview with Nell Newman, creator of Newman's Own Organics	Amanda Griscom Little	23 Nov 2004	Main Dish
We have Thanksgiving to thank for the beloved Fig Newman. It was Nell Newman, daughter of actor Paul Newman, who actually created the eponymous product, but she had the opportunity only after convincing her father to take his food company, Newman's Own, in an organic direction with a triumphant organic meal she whipped up for her family on Thanksgiving 1992. The following year, N ...
Topics: business, food, green living, greenish companies, interview, organic food (all these topics)

Stories About: business AND food AND organic food