Rising consumer demands aids organic industry sway

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2009, file photo, bottles of Heinz organic tomato ketchup are on display inside Costco in Mountain View, Calif. The organic industry is gaining clout on Capitol Hill, prompted by rising consumer demand and its entry into traditional farm states. But that isn’t going over well with everyone in Congress. Tensions between conventional and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House Agriculture Committee debate on a sweeping farm bill that has for decades propped up traditional crops and largely ignored organics.