Nutrition
Genetically Modified Apples–in the Okanagan? If you listen to the news, you’ve undoubtedly heard the controversy on genetically modified (GM) foods. It’s a topic that affects us right here in the Okanagan, and with the fruit we’ve become known for–the apple. By Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network
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here’s a stalemate in the Okanagan over an apple. It’s not just any apple–it’s the world’s first genetically modified (GM, also called genetically engineered) apple, and it could be approved next year in Canada and the US. The Okanagan is the heart of BC’s apple production, but it’s also home to the small company called Okanagan Specialty Fruits that wants to sell a GM “non-browning” apple. The company calls it the “Arctic Apple” and says that when the fruit is sliced, it won’t brown for at least 15 days. Originally developed in Australia, this GM apple is a technological marvel, and yet BC growers, and most consumers, are adamantly opposed. The BC Fruit Growers’ Association opposes it, and Fred Danenhower, President of the Similkameen Okanagan Organic Treefruit Growers Association says, “The name of our beautiful valley is being sullied by association with this
GM apple.” That’s a strong reaction to a new fruit variety but with 69 percent of Canadians saying they don’t want it to be approved, growers can’t take the risk. It seems that consumers have little appetite for a transgenic apple, despite reassurances from the company that the science is “relatively simple” and that they have just “turned off” the genes that makes apples brown. In fact, the apple was genetically modified by inserting a genetic
18 Winter ‘14 - Okanagan Health & Wellness Magazine
www.ohwmagazine.com