Non-Browning, Genetically Modified Apples: Coming to a Store Near You?

The evil queen tricked Snow White into eating a poison apple. One Canadian biotech company aims to do the same thing to American consumers.

OK, so the apples aren't technically poisonous, but they are genetically modified (GM). According to the Huffington Post, British Columbia's Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc. recently submitted documents asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to approve its GM, "Arctic" apples. Scientists silenced the genes responsible for producing the apple enzyme that causes browning. In other words, bite or slice into an "Arctic" apple and the fruit's flesh will stay bright white long into the future.

Okanagan's president, Neal Carter, claims that the apples will revolutionize the fruit industry, boosting sales of apple slices as packaged snacks or an ingredient in salads. But as is the case with most Frankenfoods, other foodies fear that non-browning, "Arctic" apples may come at the expense of the environment.

For one, replanting a traditional orchard with GM apples would cost farmers anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000 per acre, reports HuffPo. That's a lot of dough for small farmers to pony up all at one time. The bigger fear is that these Franken-apples will escape their orchards and cross-pollinate with conventional and organic apple varieties. Not only would this contamination forever alter natural apples' genetics, cross-pollination ruins organic apples, destroying the livelihoods of organic farmers that depend on their apples remaining au naturale.

Carter claims that planting GM apple varieties in large blocks would minimize cross-pollination, but we've all heard this line before. As history has proven over and over again, GMOs just don't jive with the natural environment.

Let's look at some case studies that should have taught us all a huge lesson by now. About 20 years ago, Monsanto released its Roundup Ready seeds and accompanying herbicides. When using these GM combo packs, farmers could spray Roundup herbicides all over their Roundup Ready plants. The herbicide would choke out weeds while the crops themselves remained resistant to the poison. Farmers rejoiced, environmentalists cheered at the reduced chemical use, and Monsanto raked in the dough. Until, of course, these wonder plants revealed their ugly sides.

Flash forward to today and these revolutionary GM seeds are causing all kinds of environmental trouble. Weeds have evolved a resistance to Roundup, morphing into voracious "superweeds" that kill corn, cotton, and soybean crops. Roundup Ready crop varieties escaped from their fields and cross-pollinated with traditional varieties, forever altering their genes. Organic farmers are seeing their livelihoods totally destroyed as invading GM plants cross with their crops, converting pure, organic varieties into monkeyed-with GMOs. GM varieties of corn, soybeans, and cotton already proved their dangers to the environment — it would be completely irresponsible for the USDA to let the same situation play out in America's orchards.

The goal of Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds was to — well, mainly it was to make Monsanto money. But one of the goals was to cut back on farmers' use of herbicides. The seeds certainly failed miserably in execution, but at least their original purpose was to lesson farming's environmental impact. "Arctic" apples can't even say that. There's no reason folks need a non-browning apple except for the fact that slightly tanned apple slices are a bit less appetizing than fresh, gleaming slices. Is maintaining that fresh-cut hue really worth endangering the country's organic and conventional apple orchards?

As GMOs continue to prove their dangers, farmers need to switch to growing organic crop varieties — not more Frankenfoods. It can take years for GM foods to earn USDA approval, but it's important for consumers to crush GM apples before they wind up in our fruit baskets, salads, and sauces. Sign our petition telling the USDA to deny approval of Okanagan Specialty Fruits' "Arctic," GM apple.

Photo credit: orangeacid via Flickr