Organic Connection: Organics connect us to the diets of early humans

Early humans ate excessive amounts of organic plant foods to survive. Plants were their main source of food. They gathered and consumed fruit, root vegetables, peas, beans, tubers, seeds, nuts, flowers, legumes, leaves, acorns and water plants.

They also ate wild grain, which they hammered into flour. This organic, plant-based diet provided the necessary nutrition and energy for the early humans in order to carry out their survival lives in those days.

As time passed agriculture was developed and life expectancy began to increase. A major part of it was due to the cultivation of other plant-based food such as peas, barley and wheat.

Today, organic produce has become a consumer staple as more and more are choosing fresh, organically grown fruits and vegetables because it is free from chemical residue — just like the produce our ancestors consumed. Particularly organic strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, apples, kale and other items have increased in popularity. 

So, what is the future of organic produce?

Robert Schuller, director of public relations for Melissa’s in Los Angeles, explained, “At Melissa’s, we continue to see a double-digit growth rate since the introduction of our organic program in 2001. We have seen Melissa’s organic expansion in the top 20 retailers we do business with anywhere from 12 to 25 percent in the previous year. We are able to extend the season by offering organic produce on a year-round basis. As supply and demand increases on organic produce, the gap between conventional and organic tends to come closer to each other.”

Sustainable agriculture is a huge factor with consumers as they also prefer local, seasonal, fresh produce in their regions. Much of the local product is grown organically, which helps in moving the sales bar upward.

Many younger consumers prefer purchasing organic produce and are shopping for it at retailers that carry a full variety of choices they favor. Gen Zers and Millennials want natural grown produce that has the USDA organic label identified on it. That label indicates that 95 percent of the ingredients are certified as organic and meets specific standards.

As we look back at the early introduction to organics with early humans, plant-based food has actually come a long way.

The cave dwellers who dieted on leaves, ferns and cattails would have loved the clean cultivated organic produce we have today.

Just fantasize for a moment — what would the early humans think if they could enter a modern supermarket, grab a cart and see all the wonderful organic fruits and vegetables to eat other than tree bark and cattails.

Ron Pelger is a produce industry adviser and industry writer. He can be contacted at 775-843-2394 or by e-mail at [email protected].