Is organic food elitist?

Just got back from the Soil Association and one of the issues that came up repeatedly was that organic food is perceived to be expensive and only for the middle-classes. There are companies whose business model relies on getting a premium price for their organic produce - above and beyond any extra expenses in growing organically like extra labour. On the other hand there are lots of people working hard running community projects aiming to make organic food available to more people. 

It doesn't feel elitist when I get a bag full of muddy carrots and potatoes but picking up my veg bag on Friday morning it seemed like a good opportunity to compare the prices of what was in my bag. The first column is Sainsbury's on-line price for standard loose veg, where available, or where packaged adjusted to get the same weight. The second column is the price for organic from the supermarkets, I had to shop around different on-line supermarkets to get the whole bag. I pay £9.25 for my bag.

500g carrots                        37p        72p           

575g parsnips                      89p         1.69

1.5kg potatoes                    £1.19       £1.94

125g mushrooms                54p          50p

400g leeks                        £1.00         £1.65

small cabbage                      76p         79.5

punnet of raddish & alfalfa sprouts  - not available at any of the major on-line supermarkets £1.59 from Abel & Cole (organic)

500g Jerusalem artichokes - not available from any of the major on-line supermarkets £1.81 from Abel & Cole (organic) BUT £4.10 from www.finefoodspecialist.co.uk and it doesn't say they are organic, that is £8.20/kg - you can buy them at True Food Co-op for £2.95/kg a bargain!

The contents of my bag worked out at £4.75 for the things I could compare for standard supermarket produce or £7.30 for supermarket organic. If I add in the Abel & Cole prices for the two things not available at the supermarkets my veg bag is  £1.10 more than the non-organic produce and £1.45 less than organic supermarket produce. 

So supermarkets do put a large premium on organic food except for cabbages and when I looked the organic mushrooms were actually cheaper as they were on special offer. My veg bag is a cheaper way to buy organic vegetables as is True Food Co-op (and presumably other community enterprises.) It is also easier as I had to shop around to find organic versions of all my veg and as I said some wasn't available at all. So is organic food elitist? I don't think it needs to be although it is in some people's interests to maintain a high price. Perhaps the question should be 'are Jerusalem artichokes elitist?' The supermarkets certainly seem to think so.