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August 1, 2008 - Going organic: Movement taking root as prices, awareness rise

LaReeca Rucker
lrucker@jackson.gannett.com

He draws a picture of a bicycle and writes the words "Self-reliance is patriotic" every weekend on a large door at the Starkville Community Market where produce and fruit is sold.

Owners of the Lafayette Street business allow the public to paint messages on the door, and Mississippi State University student Ryan Storment, 23, is eager to share his ideas about environmental sustainability.

Storment has given up driving and now bikes everywhere he goes. He's also gone organic.

According to the Organic Trade Association, U.S. sales of organic foods and beverages grew from $1 billion in 1990 to an estimated $20 billion in 2007, and are projected to reach nearly $23 billion in 2008. Organic food sales are expected to increase an average of 18 percent each year from 2007 to 2010.