I had the wonderful chance to sit in on the first day of the Organic Summit in Boulder Colorado this past week, where industry legends, movers and shakers got together to discuss origins, evolution, recent developments and ongoing challenges as a niche industry approached mainstream acceptance and a certain critical mass.

As I listened to Steve Demos and other speakers discuss the challenges of growth, the realities of commerce, the practicalities of a national standard with limited foreseeable enforcement, and the need for compromise without altering fundamental values, I was struck by the similarities in tone and substance with dialogue I've been a part of in the dietary supplement industry over the past six plus years. In fact, at one point, a speaker lamented over the infighting and bickering within the sector that undid momentum and wasted energy from the fundamental goal of 'changing the world'. In another example, the need for substantiation of them health benefits of organic were called for, a refrain the supplements industry knows well.

Maybe the organic sector gets it right faster than supplements did, and doesn't squander a thirteen year opportunity to grow together and educate under a new regulatory environment with self-discipline and a strategy that reached out towards external stakeholders across multiple categories.

Going back to the summit itself - although I only had one day of three day event in which to participate, the threads of connection I saw building between participants were tangible - those that were there at the beginning, those there now, and those that will contruct the organic future.

What an exciting time to take an industry snapshot and to begin discussing a collective future.