Protecting Pointless Premiums:Comparing Organic Certification Standards to Consumer Motivations for Purchasing Organics

Abstract

This paper seeks to compare the organic certification standards adopted and enforced by USDA against consumer motivations for buying organic foods. A well functioning certification system should ensure that organic foods exhibit the qualities that motivate consumers to pay premium prices for organic foods. This paper will show that in fact the current USDA organic certification program does little to ensure the presence of these characteristics. The paper is divided into five parts: first, a brief history of the use of the term “organic”; second, a brief history of the development of USDA standard for organic certification; third, a review of consumer surveys showing the type five reasons why consumer buy organic foods; fourth, an analysis of how well the USDA organic certification standards ensure the presence of the characteristics that motivate consumers to buy organic; and fifth, a brief conclusion section.