Natural and Organic News for the Trade and Industry
by Executive Producer Bill Rogers
For the past ten years, Welcome Home has provided coverage of Natural and Organic products for the trade and industry. Nature 
has provided well for all of mankind, and consumers are finding that out through a healthier lifestyle. Whether it's concerning food, body care, cleaning or other products. Consumers who start buying natural and organic products many times begin with what they eat and drink - food and beverages. After all, these are the most readily available and the most important products to use in their natural state. The more we educate the consumer along these lines, the better informed they will be and the quality of life factor will keep them coming back for more. This is an industry that can feel good about their stewardship to mankind and planet earth.
Natural and Organic Food Products
Many consumers make an effort to buy organic foods, but often those organic foods are processed, packaged foods. While it is better that we eat organic pasta or organic pizza dinners than non-organic, the educated public is learning that if we eat food in its more natural state, such as eating whole grains instead of refined, white-flour products, and fresh, whole fruits and vegetables instead of things like fruit leather with organic sugar and organic corn puffs, our bodies will get more of the nutrients they need. Over the past decade we've seen more of an effort by the industry to educate the general consumer on these matters. Eating natural and organic food is an important step for consumers to take in raising the level of their health. However, it is not the only one.
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Body and Skin Care Products
The skin is a living, breathing tissue that covers and protects our body, but also absorbs things that come into contact with it. Just as prescription drugs can be delivered through our skin via a patch, lotions, soaps, shampoos, and other body care products are absorbed by our skin. If we use shampoo made of petrochemicals and other chemical preservatives, we absorb that. If we use natural shampoo made of natural oils and herbs, we absorb those botanical ingredients instead. Which would you rather have in your body? The more we reduce the amount of toxins we introduce to our body, whether it comes via the food we eat, the water we drink, or the body care products we put on our skin, the more we give our bodies the opportunity to be healthier, and the easier it will be for our body to get rid of the toxins we do come into contact with.
Cleaning Products That We Breathe and Touch
We breathe 10 to 20 thousand liters of air per day, so if toxins are contained in that air, we will be inhaling them along with the air. Most of us have grown up using various cleaning products and don’t normally think of them as containing toxins. However, conventional cleaning products are often major contributors to the toxicity of your home. They are the only household products that are regulated under the 1960 Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act. It is difficult to determine exactly how hazardous cleaning products are, since manufacturers are not required to disclose ingredients. But many cleaning products include chlorine, ammonia. artificial fragrances, detergents and many more ingredients that are known or suspected to be toxic to the human body.
The Natural and Organic Trend
In all areas of their life, consumers are questioning whether they should be taking a more natural or even organic approach to the products they consume. Natural and organic are the current buzzwords in beauty, with niche rather than mainstream brands setting the pace for change.
Organic products out of necessity tend to be sold at a premium, but this has not deterred consumers from buying them, equating organic with healthier and better than the usual mainstream alternatives. Consumers are turning to natural and organic products for reasons of purity. Today's ethically aware consumer is waking up to the harsh realities of the ingredients list and are seeking genuinely pure, natural products and brands that are good for the environment and better for their familes.
Welcome Home has been covering the natural and organic industry for the past 10 years and have found some wonderful products along the way.
A Tug-ofWar
The growing understanding of the connection between diet and health-especially in a country with a rapidly growing 55-plus population that wants to stay healthy and active-has made natural and organic products the most dynamic area of the food retailing business.
There are also other factors in the sustained double-digit growth of this now $25-billion-plus market, including the intense competition within and between retail channels, as mainstream supermarkets are pressed by large specialists such as Whole Foods Market on one side, and by Big-Box Supercenters on the other. Then there is the absorption of natural/organics into the mainstream as major marketers and investment firms buy up natural/organic specialists plus the competition between mainstream players and specialists who prefer to stay independent. The battlefield expands between branded products and higher-margin private-label goods. The bottom line is that it's all about education and that's what we accept as our mission here on Welcome Home. If you hear of some great products or services that will make for a healthier people, a cleaner planet and a better quality-of-life, we want to hear from you. Thank you for all of your efforts.