David Weinstein, who has spent nearly a half a century in the organic produce business, has lots to say on the subject. And now he has the time to say it.

As of January 1, 2024, Weinstein has moved on from the director of procurement position he held at Heath & Lejeune/Soully Organic for the past 17 years. In fact, he has already literally moved from the city of Los Angeles to his new perch in Corvallis, Oregon.

Weinstein is quick to say he has not yet retired; he just doesn’t know what he might do next. In the meantime, he and his wife, Ann Fuller, are enjoying their first month in their new home, near a river and rural living—a significant departure from the City of Los Angeles, which he has called home for almost the entirety of his 75 years.

David Weinstein at Masumoto Family Farms in Del Rey, California

Weinstein's produce career began after college as he volunteered in the backroom of Co-opportunity, the Santa Monica food co-op, in the mid-1970s. That led to a buying position with Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets and a seamless transition to a procurement/sales position with two Southern California wholesalers—JBJ Distributing and Heath & Lejeune—from 1988 through 2023.

As the saying goes, "he knows a thing or two because he's seen a thing or two" in his lengthy career.

When looking at the trajectory of organic produce sales in the United States, Weinstein points to several events that made a huge difference, but he also believes organics owes its dynamic growth to its core vision—something he believes it is losing as the category becomes dominated by larger players.

In the developmental stage of the category, he said the Alar Scare in 1989 played a big role. In February of 1989, 60 Minutes broadcast a segment exposing the use of Alar on apples and called the chemical a dangerous carcinogen. Forty million people watched the program and Weinstein said the interest in organic produce skyrocketed, not only among consumers but growers as well.

David Weinstein and Jeff Fairchild, Produce Buyer at Organically Grown Company and former Produce Director at New Seasons Market

The ‘90s was a decade of growth as more and more consumers were interested in purchasing organic, and more and more retailers were at least starting to carry it, with some even trying to create programs. Weinstein spent the decade building organic sales at JBJ one retailer at a time.

He said another big driver of increased sales came in 2001 when the US Department of Agriculture at long last issued its final rules implementing the National Organic Program, which included the creation of the USDA certified organic label.

“That made a huge difference,” he said. “When the regulations came into effect, we had the same set of standards all over the country, which were supported by federal regulations. Before that, it was a little bit of the wild, wild west.”

The organic category has grown exponentially since then because of that certification, but Weinstein said even more important is the fact that the production of organic produce fits well with the American dream. 

“The organic story is really a Horatio Alger story, and everybody likes that,” he said. “Over time, the organic community persisted. We had an outstanding product and an inspiring story to tell. People responded by demanding it, and that’s why it has flourished. We won.”

David Weinstein and Odilon Anguiano of Dovex at the 2015 EcoFarm Conference

He continued: “A really big part of the value of organic produce is that it symbolizes for people the desire for a better world with cleaner, healthier, and more nutritious products.”

He said organic produce is the fulfillment of that vision. “We are all voting with our food dollars that we want a better world.”

Weinstein said the many, many, many small growers that built the category had that same vision. They believed it, and they lived it. Weinstein said consumers connected with the story and the produce at the same time.

“The organic story is really a Horatio Alger story, and everybody likes that." - David Weinstein

He believes the reported plateauing of the category can be traced directly to the many new organic producers who have the product but not the vision.

“The big guys driving the business now think they can have the business without the vision. They think people will buy the product without the vision,” Weinstein opined. “The truth is they won’t, and they aren’t.”

Rick Lejeune, CEO of Heath & Lejeune, and David Weinstein in an organic orchard a few years back.

Over the years, he said, the food industry has gone through many descriptors trying to capture the feeling, such as natural, “whole” foods and now "regenerative," but none of them have stuck because they don’t truly represent the vision. 

“The only one that means anything is organic because of the certification and what it stands for. What have we learned from that? People are hoping for a better world, and they want products that align with that.”  

Weinstein uses PepsiCo’s relatively new regenerative agriculture campaign to opine against this corporate takeover of the better world vision. The corporate giant claims its ingredients are being grown regeneratively. “My honest opinion is that to the extent this campaign represents an aspirational vision, it is putting our business in jeopardy. Many people buy organics because it is a thumb in the eye of industrialization. People have responded to the organic brand because they are tired of the everything-everywhere, everything-from-everywhere, everything-from-nowhere, all-the-time model. They are looking for food grown by people with faces and names in specific places not too far away in the season best for them.  Organic food represents that to them.”

“The only [descriptor] that means anything is 'organic' because of the certification and what it stands for.”  - David Weinstein

He believes that PepsiCo’s and the corporate world’s use of the term 'regenerative' without clear standards is going to drain the marketing life out of that word, just as it has done with other positive but unregulated words over the years. “There is no end to what the food system will do to try to co-opt people’s desire for a better world for more profits,” he said.

Weinstein believes the organic world does have the opportunity to fight back and thrive once again, but it needs to return to its roots. “To me, people who are sincerely interested in organic produce need to embrace the fact that organic produce exists to build a better world and create a less polluted environment. I don’t see the big grower-shippers wanting that. They have planted millions and millions of acres of organics, which is unequivocally a good thing. I’m glad for it. But where is it headed? I am not sure it is headed in a direction that is sustainable.”