Whole Foods: Organic sells despite rising food costs

Enlarge Image

Despite rising prices, oreganics still sell according to a new survey.

New data from Austin-based Whole Foods Market suggests that many Americans are willing to pay more to eat healthier.

In an online poll conducted in August by Harris Interactive, and commissioned by Whole Foods, 74 percent of 2,112 adults surveyed said they wouldn’t compromise on the quality of the food they buy.

The survey found that 72 percent of those surveyed would continue to buy the same amount of natural or organic food as they always have.

Economists and health experts have long said America’s love affair with junk food is due largely to its larger portions at lower prices than the typical healthy fare prescribed by nutritional experts.

For example, a 2007, two-year study by Adam Drewnowski, director of The Center for Public Health Nutrition at University of Washington, found that prices for the most healthful foods in the Seattle area rose about 19.5 percent during the study’s two-year period, while the cost of junk food dropped 1.8 percent during that period.

Despite that, many American’s are finding ways to eat well, even if it means cutting corners elsewhere.

The Whole Foods-commissioned survey also found that 32 percent of shoppers rely on inexpensive, but healthier pantry items such as beans and whole grains when building meals.

Read more in the Austin Business Journal.