Culprits of a Marketing "Scam"

To the average shopper, these harmless plastic bags of dried mushrooms are nothing but that. But to the discerning eye of a mushroom forager, there is a marketing scam upon us. Although not pictured above, this company also sells a USDA certified, organic morel mushroom. But, as you may or may not know, the morel mushroom – aka morchella – is incapable of being farmed. That is to say, you can only find fresh morels in the forest. How then, can there be a USDA certified, organic morel mushroom for sale at the New Seasons Market?

Last night I perused the aisles of our neighborhood New Seasons while waiting for my wife. For a food-obsessed, meal-planning aficionado, I am always seeking another meal idea. At one point in my elongated stroll through the store, I came upon a surprising product – a USDA certified, organic morel mushroom (dried of course.) As someone who spends each spring (the last 3 at least) in the woods, hunting an elusive wild edible, how on Earth could there be an “organic” wild mushroom? Aren’t all “wild” mushrooms organic by their very nature? When you’re trekking through a mountainous region, miles from cars, urban centers and chemical-spewing factories, how could the found morel not be organic?

The cost of the non-organic morel was $14.49 an ounce. The organic morels cost $21.49!  The difference in price + the ridiculousness of an organic wild mushroom = a phone call to the company.

When my wife arrived at the store and found me glaring at packages of wild mushrooms, she quickly figured out my concern. Within a minute she was on the phone with a gentleman who works for Mycological Nature Products. Here is what she discovered:

The non-organic morels are foraged in the Pacific NW. The United States does not have any vast tracts of forest that are certified organic. Even though the mushrooms found in the woods are literally organic (by their very nature,) they do not meet the official certification standards of the USDA. At the same time, other countries have devoted large pieces of land to being USDA certified organic. The country responsible for the mushrooms in this package is CHINA.

The company acknowledges that “organic” is a popular term among consumers. Since so many shoppers want to buy organic, they must find a way to sell organic morel mushrooms. Even if this means transporting morel mushrooms from a distant place.

I believe this marketing ploy illustrates the dangers of the organic food movement, the dark side perhaps. Our collective obsession with “organic,” especially as a marketing term, has actually created a new industry that distracts the goals of the first. Fundamentally, the aim of organic farming is that the plants are treated without chemicals because the toxicity of some fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc are disastrous for the environment and our health.

And yet, as this movement has grown and influenced many other businesses, our desire to purchase organic products has blinded us. It would make far more sense to state where the mushrooms are foraged, so that the buyer can make a more educated choice. But producers do not want us to be too educated because then we might not buy their product.  It seems to me, that if we base our consumption on the presence of a single word, this really shows how little we care to know.

If we succumb to the mesmerizing stories of food producers, especially those told on packaged goods in the grocery store, we will pay more than necessary; and we will fall right into their hands and consume without thinking.

Related posts:

1. Local Food Movement Gains Serious Support
2. Foraging (part 1)
3. Why “organic” isn’t good enough (or) the versatility of the tomato
4. Children of the Asphalt
5. Filling up the freezer

Tags: food literacy, Food Politics, portland, wild mushrooms