Professor Phil Howard gets the third degree from Ojo del Tigre

Ever seen one of those charts of who owns the organic industry?  If you haven't, you should (and they're right here).  They are the product of research by Phil Howard, assistant professor in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies at Michigan State.  A few years ago, Phil decided to unmask the massive consolidation of the organic industry, with major food corporations and investment firms gobbling up independent companies.  His charts certainly took the co-op world by storm, summing up what we've been seeing on the shelves for awhile.

  As this process has accelerated, so has Phil's chart-making.  His site now features graphics and even animations on the rate of consolidation, the largest independent companies, distributors as well as the increasing percentage of organic foods sold in conventional supermarkets. Check them out. It's useful to know where we are in order to plan out where we want to go as a movement.