If there's any dietary wisdom, it's that you do a body good by eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Certainly, the experts agree with both the American Heart Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "MyPlate" program recommending that we fill half our plate each day with plant-based foods.
Thanks to their reputation for being more nutritious, as well as better for the environment, foods labeled "organic" are increasingly the choice. According to the Organic Trade Association, the leading voice for organic trade in the U.S., sales of such food products grew from an estimated $26.9 billion in 2010 to more than $63 billion in 2021. Perhaps not surprisingly, fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for the largest portion of all organic food sales in 2021, followed by eggs and dairy, beverages, packaged foods, bread/grains, snack foods and condiments, and meat/fish/poultry.
Also no surprise: Upscale and millennial/Gen Z consumers are more apt to buy organic than older shoppers. And the vast majority is purchased at conventional grocery stores, though sales also happen at farmers markets and through community-supported agriculture shares.
