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Arianne Pfoutz

About Arianne Pfoutz

http://non-gmoreport.com

Arianne is assistant editor with The Organic & Non-GMO Report.

Posts by Arianne Pfoutz:

non-GMO, non-browning opal apples

When FDA Approved GMO Non-Browning Apples, They Were Already Obsolete

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Guest article by Arianne Pfoutz, The Organic and Non-GMO Report

Growing fruit comes naturally to Ralph Broetje—Broetje Orchards in eastern Washington State, developed with his wife Cheryl, is the largest contiguous orchard in the US. When he tried out a new apple variety bred in the Czech Republic, a cross between the Golden Delicious and the Topaz, the bright yellow fruit turned out to be firm, crispy and crunchy, with a sweet/tangy flavor and floral aroma. And, by “happy coincidence,” the Opal Apple was non-browning: its low occurrence of the browning enzyme delays the process.

Today, Ralph grows one million Opal trees, spanning nearly 1,000 acres of the total 8,000 acres (10 million trees) the company oversees. The Opal debuted in the US in 2010. To distinguish Opals from the recently approved genetically modified, non-browning Artic Apple, Broetje put the seal on it—last year, the Opal became the first apple to achieve Non-GMO Project verification.

Centralization for Quality Control

Broetje Orchards is unique in that produce is grown, stored, and packed in the same location, with a 1.1 million square-foot modern warehouse and packing facility on-site, with 105 atmosphere-controlled rooms. The company packs 25,000 boxes a day—8 million boxes a year—of 15 different varieties, including Opal, Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady, Braeburn and Golden Delicious. Broetje employs 1,100 year-round, with 1,000 seasonal workers.

Opals are only available December through April; almost 12 million pounds are distributed each season. Around 15% of the Opals are organic.

Keith Mathews, CEO of sales and marketing at FirstFruits, said extensive funds have gone into social media outreach and public events to market the Opal, including tastings at 5K races, winter carnivals and conferences, and in-store demos. Currently the Opal is priced midway between mainline apples and the Honeycrisp.

Threats from GM apples

Mathews said contamination from the new GM Arctic Apple is a definite possibility. “Washington farmers have put their entire lives into apples since the early 1900s. Our Northwest Horticultural Council lobbied hard in DC to oppose GM apples, but we lost. The risk lies in bees pollinating our non-GMO acres.”

Ralph notes that none of the farmers he knows are eager to grow a GM apple, and that its presence might create doubts among consumers about eating apples at all. “There’s no need for a GM apple,” he said.

Mathews noted that the sliced apple business is the only point of value for a non-browning apple, and it’s an important but very small niche of the apple market at about 7-8 million bushels each year.

The company enrolled in Non-GMO Project verification to reinforce consumer awareness that a non-browning apple doesn’t have to be a GM apple. “The folks at the Project were very helpful,” Mathews said. “One complication occurred because I put through my organic and conventional Opals at the same time, and we normally wax our conventionals. There is a miniscule ingredient in the wax we had to deal with, so that took a bit of fine-tuning and frequent checking.”

Mathews expects demand for Opals to build. “We will easily get to one million boxes each season with what’s in the ground already.”

natures food patch

Nature’s Food Patch: Setting the Bar for GMO Transparency

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Guest article by Arianne Pfoutz, The Organic and Non GMO Report

It’s a store owner’s million-dollar question: How can I attract and maintain a loyal cadre of customers? What can I offer them that will directly add to their quality of life?

Laurie Powers-Shamone has been pondering that for 43 years. That’s how long she’s been working in the natural foods industry, starting in a Florida food coop and now serving for 26 years as Store Director of Nature’s Food Patch in Clearwater—the only large natural grocer in upper Pinellas County.

She’s also earned a reputation in the industry for strong action against GMOs. In 1999 she lobbied Congress as a member of the National Board of Directors of the Natural Products Association. In the early 2000s, Nature’s Food Patch sponsored talks by Craig Winters, founder of the Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods, and GMO expert Jeffrey Smith. “The Patch” provides ongoing GMO and holistic health education for customers through brochures, lectures, movies and social media blasts.

The hunt for GMOs

“Consumer GMO awareness picked up significantly in 2005 when the Non-GMO Project started,” Laurie said. “Still, all we could tell customers was to buy organic or Non-GMO Project Verified items, because we just didn’t know where GMOs were hiding.”

It came to a head in 2012. As GM labeling bills failed to pass, Laurie decided The Patch was going to take on the challenge independently: she hired a full-time GMO researcher to go through every product in the store to determine GMO presence.

“We’d call every manufacturer and ask for detailed information if there were suspicious ingredients,” Laurie said. “We got rid of lots of items. If the item was super popular and couldn’t be replaced, we’d label it as GMO. We don’t allow any new products into the store that contain GMOs.”

The goal is for each item to be either “Patch Verified,” indicating written certification from the manufacturer or producer that the product is GMO free, or Non-GMO Project Verified. Otherwise a “possible GMOs” label is attached. The Patch lets the manufacturer know that if they can’t provide information, they risk losing their spot on the shelves. Many suppliers have taken the challenge seriously and have turned to Non-GMO verification as a result.

Marketing Director Cheryl Rosselle says the biggest challenge is finding the GMOs in the first place. “Many of the ingredients can be hiding. The next challenge is getting the manufacturers to answer you, or even to find a contact. Often the person who answered the phone would know little about GMOs.” Second generation GMOs, such as GM feed, are also challenging.

Building community through trust

The result? The Patch has become known as “one of the most ethical stores around.” It was chosen recently as one of the Top 12 Right to Know Grocers (Diligent Dozen) by the Organic Consumers Association. And it has seen two major expansions: from a 5,000 square foot (sf) farmer’s coop, it grew to 14,000 sf and then in 2010, was expanded to its current 22,000 sf. (A 2,000 sf addition is planned for a learning center/community room.)

Powers-Shamone now knows one secret that other retailers can learn from: labeling GMOs is a smart marketing tool. “Putting up that first label was hard, and it took quite a lot of time for me to make that decision,” she said. “Traditionally in advertising, you don’t talk about bad things, but people simply want to know if GMOs are present.”

The work invested in earning consumer trust has generated a loving, customer-engaged atmosphere at Nature’s Food Patch, Laurie says. “When they know we care about their health and well being, it builds community. Our continuing efforts to educate and provide the best food inspire our staff as well as everyone who comes through the door, or visits us online.”

Laurie’s latest brainstorm is that the responsibility for transparency needs to shift. Of the five levels involved in food production—grower of raw materials, manufacturer, vendor, retailer, and customer—she felt in 2012 that as a retailer she had to do the work due to pressure coming from level five, the customer. “It’s the second level—the manufacturer of products—that should be disclosing GMOs,” she says. “My latest idea is, why can’t the vendor do the work and label all GMO products in their catalog?”

But for now, the investment has paid dividends. “When we got the ‘Top 12 Right To Know Grocer’ award, we heard from folks all over the country, who said, ‘Please come build a store here!’” she recalls. “It was a tremendous reward for all the hard work.”