K A S H R U T . C O M_©

The following news is from the FoodManufacturing.com on November 24, 2014.

There is an international boom in quinoa. Quinoa is being factory-farmed in Peru and that grain is being smuggled into Bolivia and is being mixed with or sold as organic Bolivian quinoa.
"A decade ago, Peru accounted for just 6 percent of global sales while Bolivia had 90 percent, according to U.N. figures. But Peru is on track to supplant Bolivia this year as the top exporter, having doubled production from 2013 to 95,000 metric tons amid strong demand from the U.S. and Europe.
"Peru's higher output stems from greater use of insecticides and chemical fertilizers as agribusiness steps up cultivation in coastal valleys, where there are two harvests a year compared to one in the highlands." The quinoa from Peru is a smaller grain. There is very little organic quinoa produced in Peru.
Organic quinoa now fetches up to $10 a pound retail in the United States, with non-organic available for as much as half that price.
"Prices for Peru's white-seed coastal "sweet" quinoa have been consistently dropping. The coastal quinoa is more apt to be contaminated by pesticide overuse because it grows on land previously occupied by other crops." There are fewer bugs in the harsh climate of the Bolivian highlands.