Organic Beer

There is a growing market for organic beer these days. Is that a good thing?

Probably not. In order to be labeled "organic." a product must contain 95% organic ingredients.

As reported in the LA Times, Anheuser-Busch is now marketing Wild Hop lager, an "organic" beer that contains hops grown the conventional way: with chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

• Update 25 July 2007: To their credit, Anheuser-Busch has apparently found a source, and now uses 100% organic hops in Wild Hop.
  

The USDA is in the process of evaluating 38 other non-organic ingredients that could go into organic foods. Only foods and beverages labeled "100% organic" are truly organic. So a sausage made with 100% organic meat but non-organic casing can be labeled "organic."

Kind of defeats the purpose, don't it?

Yuppie chow, yuppie chow grow

According to this, buying food labeled "organic" does not mean what it used to. The big US agra-businesses now own most organic brands, and they handle, package, transport, and market it in much the same way conventional food is produced, with the same effect on the environment.

In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan makes the point that organic asparagus flown from South America on a jet is not the best thing for the planet, and kind of defeats the purpose of eating organic.

I'm sure there's plenty of locally grown organic food around, but I wouldn't look for it at your local Whole Foods.