In the short term, the produce industry would probably benefit from legislation requiring foods containing GMOs be labeled as such, because most fresh fruits and vegetables are not GMO foods.
Food manufacturers, and to my surprise — many university scientists — are fighting GMO labeling with trite responses such as “We know GMOs are safe” and “It’s the same as a fast-track system of conventional plant breeding.” Those arguments may be correct, at least for some GMOs, but they lack credibility with both the fear-mongering media and the GMO-phobic public.
If GMOs Were Labeled
If all products in the grocery stores had to carry GMO labeling, consumers who are petrified of GMOs could avoid them, whereas most folks would ignore the GMO labels and buy the same products that they always bought. GMO labeling would allow those who are psychologically allergic to GMOs to adjust their purchases whereas most folks would say, as they do with high-fat and/or high-salt food, “Well, it hasn’t killed me yet!” Thus, GMO labeling would defuse the issue, inform everyone about what foods contain GMOs, and allow our food production and marketing system to adjust accordingly.
The upside to GMO labeling would be that those fearing GMOs would move away from processed foods, many of which already contain GMOs, to more fresh fruits and vegetables. We might actually see increases in apple consumption. This approach is apparently already paying off for FirstFruits Marketing of Selah, WA, where folks had the foresight to label their new proprietary yellow “Opal” apple as a non-GMO apple.
Sound Reasoning
In summary, I propose four lines of reasoning to suggest that the apple industry should avoid getting caught on the wrong side of the GMO debates:
- As noted above, apples (other than the Arctic Apple) are not GMOs. In the short term the industry could use that as a marketing advantage.
- At some point in the future, the survival of the apple industry might depend on a GMO solution. That situation already exists for citrus producers in Florida where citrus greening is wiping out the industry. Gene jockeys have come up with a GMO solution to citrus greening (although it still needs more testing), but the citrus industry is scared to death of GMOs. And that fear of GMOs may literally be the death of the Florida citrus industry because right now there are no other viable solutions. At the moment, we don’t need GMO apples, but who knows what might happen if some foreign pest is introduced in the future?
- The tides of change will inexorably push the public into accepting GMOs. As noted above, most folks are already eating GMOs because, according to at least one source, 70% of processed foods in grocery stores already contain GMOs. Thus, a reality check on what has already happened suggests that either the public will eventually accept GMOs as inescapable or else a lot of folks will go hungry in the future.
- Buying into the anti-GMO phobia suggests that the industry accepts and condones the anti-science nonsense promoted by most GMO-phobes. If we abandon science, where will the list of demands end? Without good science as a standard for decision-making, all food producers will be increasingly subjected to whimsical changes in both regulations and consumer choices.
Let’s not get distracted by the GMO debate. Instead, let’s focus on the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables (GMO or not) while quietly promoting transparency via GMO labeling. GMO labeling will allow the markets to adjust to meet the preferences of all consumers, not just the vocal anti-GMO minority. At the same time, those who distrust GMOs will buy more of our conventional non-GMO apples.