Organic and Non-GMO Market News

It’s time to invest in organic grain handling infrastructure

By Kellee James and Rachel Storey, Mercaris It is a well-known fact that there is an insufficient domestic supply of organic grains, leading to increased dependency on imports. But what if American farmers were suddenly able to meet growing U.S. demand? Would current infrastructure be ready or able to accommodate increased supply? As a starting […]

Just how dependent is the U.S. on organic grain imports?

By Kellee James and Rachel Storey, Mercaris Over the past five years—since Mercaris began tracking prices of organic and non-GMO grains—domestic demand for organic grains has grown significantly. U.S. certified farmland, on the other hand, still falls significantly short of being able to fulfill that demand. This increasing gap in the supply chain has been […]

Ancient grains appealing to modern tastes

While the American diet has been dominated by conventional grains like corn, wheat, oats, and rice, a growing number of people are choosing more rare “ancient” grains for their unique tastes, nutritional benefits, and gluten-free, organic, and non-GMO advantages. Many varieties of ancient grains What are ancient grains? “There is not an official definition of […]

How to thrive in the non-GMO marketplace

By Rachel Storey and Kellee James, Mercaris With many consumers paying more attention to the quality of their food, as well as where it is coming from, demand has been shifting away from conventional grains and towards organic and non-GMO for quite some time. There are profound differences when it comes to buying or selling […]

Former Whole Foods executive sees positives, negatives with Amazon’s purchase of natural food retailer

In June, online giant Amazon dropped a bombshell in the organic and retail supermarket worlds when it announced the purchase of Whole Foods Market, the U.S.’s leading natural food retail chain, for $13.7 billion. Reactions from food advocates and the organic industry varied. Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, called the acquisition […]