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Rejecting the Status Quo

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Grain by Grain

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Abstract

If there’s all this value just waiting to be added to our food system, why aren’t more farmers and eaters trying to realize it? Organic, perhaps the best-known segment of the value-added food sector, has grown substantially since I converted my farm, to the point where 82 percent of US households purchase at least some organic food.1 Montana, I’m proud to say, is above the national average, with 85 percent of households including organic items in their grocery cart.2 But overall, organics still account for just 5.3 percent of US food sales3 and less than 1 percent of American cropland.4 Why haven’t more of us converted?

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Notes

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Authors
  1. Bob Quinn
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  2. Liz Carlisle
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© 2019 Bob Quinn and Liz Carlisle

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Quinn, B., Carlisle, L. (2019). Rejecting the Status Quo. In: Grain by Grain. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-996-8_17

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