| Within the last three decades, the organic food industry has grown from a marginal production fad to the largest growing sector within American agriculture. Not only is California considered the birth-place of the modern organic food movement, it is responsible for one-third of all organic food sales. Farmers within the industrial agriculture community are unable to resist the increased revenues derived from organic production and as such are switching from conventional methods to organic methods. While the philosophy of organic agriculture emphasis not only abstaining from utilizing synthetic inputs but promoting socially and environmental sustaining production methods, many organic farmers are avoiding these themes.;As the current requirement for receiving "organic certification" does not include these themes, many farmers are able to retain their previous methodology of conventional agriculture within their organic productions. As such, many of the underlying problems associated with industrial agriculture are being upheld within California's organic sector. Consequently, the organic industry has begun to replicate what it has initially set out to oppose. This thesis examines how California's organic agricultural industry grew to the degree it is at today. It will highlight key aspects of the development of the organic sector within California, explain why farmers are converting to organic production, and discuss problems created by the merging of organic production and large-scale industrialized agricultural production methods within California. |
