Sales of organic foods grew stronger in the United States and Europe through the "great recession" of the late 2000s and the lingering economic uncertainty afterward, interesting investors. Why did the popularity of organic food shoot up in the downturn?

Across the Western world, media coverage of the organic food business suggests the field has has been booming during the past decade, even while food pantries and soup kitchens began drawing bigger crowds too: Despite rising inflation and persisting economic weakness, organic farmers have trouble producing enough, the New York Times reported. According to Redbook magazine, a majority of shoppers have been buying organic produce at least occasionally, though it cost them up to 50 percent more. Investors eying this situation might wonder if this is a lasting trend, and learning what factors are driving organic food sales could provide the most reliable hunches about the industry's future. According to an article by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that looked at organic food production and consuming in Wisconsin as a leading example, people may have begun buying more organic foods because scientific evidence has tied the use of pesticides and antibiotics in food production to increased health risks, and because organic farming methods have been theorized by some agricultural experts to help the environment by reducing nitrate losses into ground and surface waters. However, recently published scientific evidence about health and the environment might equally encourage and discourage producers and consumers of organic foods: A University of California, Berkeley study linked prenatal pesticide exposure and lower IQ in children, but a soil comparison study in northeast England showed little difference in the populations of nitrogen-fixing bacteria between organically and conventionally farmed soils, ScienceDaily reported. A MailOnline story, citing research from Newcastle University, strongly suggested eating more organic foods can add days to years to people's lifespans because they contain more beneficial nutrients and fewer harmful chemicals, despite longstanding dismissal of such claims by the UK's Food Standards Agency. In the United States, the USDA National Organic Program, voted into law in 2002, may have boosted the industry by giving consumers confidence in the quality of organic foods bearing the agency's certification seals and labeling. The EU-Eco-regulation commission of the European Council began organic farming certification in 1991. Agricultural Marketing Economist William A. Knudson, in a working paper published by Michigan State University in 2007, predicted high levels of consumer interest in organic foods would keep rising, because organic farming brings together two distinct, growing markets: a population interested in health benefits and a population interested in environmental protection.