It is true for some larger "organic" brands. However, this may actually be genuinely organic, locavore product. I would bet that most people who buy at that inflated price do so thinking for some reason that this is worth it.

It takes more work and money to make organic. Organic is a choice but not necessity. The gallon of regular milk is around 4.50 here. The organic for half gallon is 3.89 so it is a bit more for the exclusive milk.

if need be.
It is, however, very kind of you to worry about how people choose to spend their money and what people choose to eat!

The organic industry can only lead to higher prices, and that's not good for food security.

when it comes to certain subjects.

BTW, all farmers can get subsidies.

Once again, you cannot support your claims, so you pretend by making personal attacks.

Meanwhile, the unethical organic industry keeps working to con people: http://risk-monger.blogactiv.eu/2015/05/19/the-organic-industrys-unethical-lobbying-strategy/

The fact is there are plenty of stores where non organic milk is available -- and competition has driven the price down. Organic produce of any kind is a niche market. It is NOT competing on the basis of cost against the non organic.

It does not even discuss factors, just speaks of an increase. (Note before you go there. If the STATISTIC is impacted by a shift to more organic milk relative to regular, it is then not accurately measuring the impact to a family that does not change what it consumes.)

The costs that drive the price of milk could be anything from the weather (which could require the purchase of higher priced grain or more grain if they were usually grass fed.) to the cost of gas needed to transport it to an increase in inflation (not seen yet) that justifies the farmers getting an increase too.

In 2011, only 4% of all milk products were organic - http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/livestock/dairy/organic-dairy/
It is completely impossible that the price of NINETY SIX percent of milk products is impacted by the high price of the 4%.

As to no good reason, EVERYONE GETS TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. (If you want huge differences in price, do you have a problem if upscale restaurants have Kobe beef hamburgers (at Dean and deluca for $50 each! -
http://www.deandeluca.com/butcher-shop/beef/wagyu-burger.aspx?ref_code=GoogleMerchant&gclid=CjwKEAjw1_KwBRDEz_WvncL4jGwSJAAEym0dSW7mJjG97J210t-JWMuP0vK5CG3dlTbGLF4wn9NcahoCx9vw_wcB ) I don't eat beef, but I would never think it reasonable for me to say that they should not charge this much. It also has NO impact on the cost of a hamburger at McDonald's!

That doesn't change the reality that the organic industry is working to convince people that they must spend more money on their products without a justified reason for doing so. Pretending that marketing aimed at increasing prices, and at convincing people that they should pay more, isn't going to change the reality of the tactics.

No one is talking about making organic illegal, or taking away choices.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't discuss the reality of ugly marketing tactics such as those utilized by the organic industry.

I guess I could say that your claim - that you now basically concede is not true - was just an ugly marketing attack against organic products.

The fact are there ARE organic farmers. I have met some in Vermont. They are real people and their produce is organic.

I have merely broadened the discussion. Anyone who works with people who live with food insecurity is not going to buy your POV.

Who knew?

I got the phrase from the OPs sig line!

By playing on peoples ignorance and fears, then upcharging them for the service.

The transaction is based on their profit and what is good for them. Having your needs met efficiently and at reasonable cost? Who gives a whit about that, it's America.

This company is part of the industry that is spreading a lot of propaganda about how "organic is better," based on hysterics and innuendos, so they can charge huge markups for their product.

and their cost of operating is higher due to the higher cost of supplies. Surely sources of organic food for their cows, costs more than normal.

But five dollars for a gallon of milk is not unusual for N. Texas, whether it's organic or not.

We pay $2.50/gal here in the Twin Cities, MN, for non-organic and $5-$6/gal for organic milk.

You can buy thin, watery brands like Kroger or Wall Mart's brand, for $1.99.

organic farming.

Uhhh, you can have one or the other, but not both. Simply put, we have 7+ billion people on this planet, if we converted all agriculture to organic farming, pre-green revolution, this planet could sustain may a third of that.

the issue isn't organic vs. non-organic. It's meat-production vs. cereals and vegetables. If everybody was vegan, we could produce enough produce globally to support a population substantially larger than the current global population.

Meat and dairy are resource-heavy. It takes many times as much resources to produce the food-output (meat and dairy) of one dairy cow as it does to produce an equivalent quantity of vegetables, fruit and grain. More grain agriculture is dedicated to livestock feed than human consumption.

It's embarrassing how brainwashed/ignorant some DU'ers are.

Those with enough money have.
Those w/o enough money don't have.


One reason why Cuba chose a different method of rationing of milk.

Price out a pound of Jamaican Blue Mountain.

Go to your supermarket and price a pound of Maxwell House.

Both will give you your caffeine charge in the morning.

Is the coffee shop gouging you on the Jamaican Blue Mountain?

They've spent years working to get people used to spending more and more money on coffee. It's amazing to see people spend $16-$20 a pound and more for coffee that is good, but no better than the decent stuff you can get for half that price.

The term "Foodie" is becoming synonymous with "Fool."

generalizing about a broad topic is like making dangerous assumptions sans facts.

I pay an average of $12/lbs for fair trade coffee which is sold by my rural, local roaster. I just made a trip to a highly populated part of the country and the coffee in every place I drank it was nasty tasting and I would never have drunk it if I wasn't in need of the caffeine. It's about more than just the caffeine.

And why aren't you questioning why any human would consume cows' milk in the first place?

Organic, fair-trade is morally appropriate in my book and I will gladly pay a little more for something that is far healthier and not exploitative of the actual producers. Maybe the place where one obtains their consumptive products (and via which marketer) should be examined, could give the actual reason behind the higher price.

and the only fresh beets sold are organic.

profit-seeking corporation. It's an upsell. It's a "value-added" product.

Are you naive enough to be surprised by this?

Aside from very few local/regional producers of organics who may attempt to be kinder/gentler/more accessible, this is to be expected.

I was shopping for an alternative milk a couple months back and found this expensive-as-heck milk that had all these interestingly-sourced claims plus extra protein, no lactose...it was interesting.

Then I looked it up online, and found that it was some kind of regular milk that's hopped-up on processes to be 'premium' because they felt there was a market for 'expensive milk tastes'.

As if people are just buying milk for the taste instead of, you know, nutrition, and that's why they were shopping for other milks. But it wasn't an 'organic' angle, but the price was about right (almost $4 here in Indiana is 5-7 elsewhere) for what you described.

Made ice cream with it (and some local eggs). It was freakin' awesome.

I don't think it is price gouging. It might well be that the brand provides a living wage for the dairy farmer and their costs are significantly higher than milk from a huge factory dairy farm. Not to mention, there are other organic brands that are less expensive. If that brand can succeed with that price point - in a store with many alternatives, organic or not, it means that for some people something about their milk or practices leads them to pay more for it.

I would only use the word gouging if there is only one choice (or a few choices in an oligarchy where they price fix by following a leader). Here, there are many choices -- and you can buy at any quality or price point.

I would hate a store that had only one - lowest cost - version of everything. For some things, I do buy the cheapest generic version, but there are others where I have found that they are really not the same. (The clearest example here in VT -- is that the local cheeses even if much more expensive than the store block (even of the same name) are definitely not the same. Even in cooking - much less eating alone - the difference is huge.

True, if budget is a big factor, people need the mass produced, cheaper alternatives.

It's time that everyone realized that reality. The current definition that allows some producers to use the term was created willy nilly out of nothing, without any real justification.

Oh, that's right, it's a marketing term with a purpose: To charge as much as possible.

who lobbied Congress and subverted the legal meaning of organic.

However, there ARE still organic farms producing organic food.

And you've already been told it's about larger corporate farms being SUBSIDIZED that makes them profitable.

It is true that there are many words that are not controlled by strict definitions. It is also true that there are some locally produced milk from smaller producers (in some areas) where they DO follow different practices.

I don't get why you and others are so angry about the choices of others. If you think there is no difference or that the difference is priced beyond its value to you, buy the cheapest available.

As to food, where I think most unjustified high costs are in super packaged prepared food - especially snack food.

Some of us are simply pointing out less than ethical marketing tactics. I think that's the right thing to do. Pretending that it's just about "choice," doesn't justify the ugly marketing tactics of the organic industry.

PS: http://risk-monger.blogactiv.eu/2015/05/19/the-organic-industrys-unethical-lobbying-strategy/

to take advantage of the willingness to pay of some people. I would suggest that education of what people are getting is the better idea.

There may be some ethical providers, but they are few are far between, and ignorance is not a justification. The same crap pushed by Whole Foods, Hain, and Organic Valley, and your average Co-Op is also pushed by vendors at the Farmer's Market, as well as at stands set up at the farms themselves.

and FWIW "price gouging" is not the term to use for charging a premium for a product with higher perceived value. It's gouging when consumers have no choice except buying your overpriced product and going without.

you are willing to pay more for animals treated more humanely #3. If you don't want traces of antibiotics and other chemicals in your milk you will be willing to pay more.

Small farms and producers have to charge more.

Why can't others point out that there is no real reason to do so, however? After all, the organic industry has worked hard to convince people that they must buy organic if they want to be "healthy." Why is it wrong for others to point out that such marketing is less than ethical?

It seems to be just a matter of how unethical it's allowed to be.

I don't see flashing signs on the gasoline pumps telling me, "Hey, Asshole, You're Fucking Up Future Generations!"

I don't see signs on the factory farm meat in the grocery store that say, "Hey, Asshole, You're Supporting the Torture of Highly Intelligent Animals!"

I do see plenty of misleading ads for prescription medicines for health problems for which there are less expensive, less dangerous, and more effective treatments for, almost every time I see a fucking television or look at a magazine in a waiting room. (I don't watch television anymore, but sometimes it's inflicted upon me by others.)

I am a somewhat fond of movie advertising. The worst that can happen with that is you see a bad movie, and no amount of advertising or promotion will save a real stinker of a movie past the first weekend. Besides, movie advertising is an art form in itself.

Hmm.

Same with "soft drinks," with or without sugar, high fructose corn syrup, "natural" or artificial sweeteners.

Whatever mischief the sellers of "organic" milk are up to pale in comparison to the horrors of the mass market dairy industry.

"Got Milk?" really ought to be the sort of question only a midwife would ask the mother of a newborn baby.

of people's ignorance.

No, I don't think your refined and processed juice, or bread, or whatever is any more "natural" whatever that is supposed to mean, than the cheaper alternatives, all I do know is it isn't worth almost double the price.

I will only buy Organic Valley milk. I want the gallons but have to sometimes take the half gallon size. Yesterday the gallon of whole milk cost $7.99 + tax, half gallon $4.19 to $5.29 depending on the variety. Where I shop at Costco their Kirkland gal of conventional milk is something like $1.99

For anyone interested here's an article about the Organic Valley Co-op as it exists today.
July 24, 2015
Organic Valley at the Crossroads http://progressive.org/news/2015/07/188233/organic-valley-crossroads