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MOSES director advises conventional ag “the customer is always right”

The executive director of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) says conventional farmers need to acknowledge that the customer is always right.

A recent poll by market intelligence firm Maru shows nearly 70 percent of millennials are willing to pay a premium for organic food.

MOSES director John Mesko says this research provides further evidence that a dramatic market shift is occurring and many American farmers risk being left behind.

“The response has typically been, and I’ve worked in conventional agriculture for many years, is these people that want different types of labels on their food; they don’t understand that what we currently have is ok.  And what we’re learning now is that the customer is always right.  And if the customer wants organic and they’re willing to pay for it, they’ll get it.”

He points out there are now more millennials—approximately 80 million—than baby boomers.

“So if that’s what they want, that’s not going to change.  That is only going to grow as they raise children of their own and teach them how to eat, teach them how to prepare their food and so forth.”

He says regardless of personal beliefs, farmers should embrace the organic and GMO-free movement because it’s a good business decision.

Brownfield interviewed Mesko at the MOSES Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Friday.