Sustainablog hits an important idea with this post on the White House’s “victory garden”

Are you worried that an organic garden on the White House grounds might cause some Americans to start eating a wide variety of chemical-free, locally grown produce? The Mid America CropLife Association, a lobbying group for agribusinesses giants, is.

The trouble is this: If people start growing their own gardens without using lots of chemicals (pesticides, herbacides and fertilizer), then sales in the industry will go down. Even worse, they may start switching to organic food.

This is important, because homeowners tend to put far too much of far too many chemicals on their lawns and gardens. If they stop doing that, the chemical industry may lose an important profitable segment of their market.

Bottom Line: There’s nothing worse for a business than having a bunch of customer decide that they do not need their product (cf., bottled water).