You want your fruit to age so you don’t have to as quickly.  All this hullabaloo about an apple that won’t brown has me in a flap.  The news that a BC company has invented an apple modification that makes it resist turning brown makes no sense whatsoever to me. I am no scientist but let me share what I know.

This apple has been modified to remove the polyphenol oxidase enzyme.  A polyphenol is exactly the property in a fruit or vegetable that you want to keep.  It is the very thing that acts as an anti-oxidant in your body that keeps you young and healthy by blocking the free radicals and therefore the formation of carcinogens (things that cause cancer).  It is a powerful and honorable thing to be a polyphenol, one that doesn’t come easily.  A polyphenol protects you by being the thing that protects the apple in nature. When you eat it, it becomes part of the other processes in your body that protect you.  The more protecting of itself the fruit had to learn, the more protecting of you it can do.

Think of it this way.  An organic apple had to go through a lot of shit to fight off pests and fungus so it developed a lot of “muscles” called polyphenols.  Its unbrowning, modified counterpart didn’t even have to get in the ring, didn’t have to learn how to punch those pests right in the eye. (yes, I respect its scrappiness, and you should too)   As a result, it did not get big and strong and full of polyphenols.  It stayed out of the game so it stayed pretty.   

And why do we want it to stay pretty? So we can cut it and package it, ship it around the world,  and it will “keep” longer?  If they said “we removed the Vitamin C for you” how would you feel?  Just because no one knows what a polyphenol is doesn’t mean that they don’t need it in their arsenal. 

I haven’t even weighed in to the other reasons we do not want to genetically modify our foods. (political, environmental, long term effects…)  I’m just stuck on the basics feeling a little like Cindy Loo Who.  Why? Why, Santy Claus, are you taking our Christmas Tree? When it does so much for our hearts and our bodies!?

So let’s hear it! What have I missed? Do you really want a pretty apple that won’t do as much for you but will travel? Or do you want the best apple that has the most powerful punch it can muster?

There is an interesting series on food safety in the Globe this week reported by Jessica Leeder and I am following it with rapt attention.  But do Canadians really care?

The whole question of where our food comes from and our import laws seems to be way above the bar that most people leap every day.  The information in these articles is priceless as it covers issues like:

·         Who is inspecting our food?

·         How much of it actually gets inspected? (5%!)

·         Should the inspection standards be different if food is imported from countries with vastly different growing laws and governance? (I think so!)

·         What kind of improvements can and should be made in the traceability of our food

·         Whether or not consumers are willing to pay a premium for that traceability

It’s all very informative.  But I’m confused.  I have a hard enough time convincing people that eggs are good for you and that a glass of red wine is a very different alcoholic beverage choice over rum and Coke.  The things that I have to remind myself are not common sense to everyone have nothing to do with a bar code that my smart phone can read to tell me where my orange was grown. 

I have a hard enough time asking people even to read the Health Canada mandated label on packages and the loopholes to consider that may be affecting their health in adverse ways.  We can’t even discern the crucial facts therein. Are we really ready to worry about the pesticide use in China or South America being much more dangerous than those approved for use here?

I do think Canadians incorrectly assume that their food is safe, that someone is checking or it wouldn’t be on the shelves. It is hard enough convince consumers to purchase that broccoli, cut it themselves, steam it and serve it in great heaping piles.  I’m pretty sure that if most people are going to buy it at all, they are going to look for the cheapest possible stalk.  They are more likely to buy it prepped for them and  frozen regardless of where it was grown, what it was grown in or how long it took to get here.  I’m not saying its right; I am just saying it is.  

So here is the question:

Does the country of origin of your food matter to you and will you pay more to a) know about it and b) have your government check it more thoroughly?

Why does the weird stuff always happen to me? Maybe I’m hyper observant around food, maybe the universe wants me to know something. Either way, if there is a fly in the soup, you bet your tail feathers, it’s going to be in mine!

For instance, the guy with the broom at the grocery store just had to be sweeping out under the vegetable bins while I was choosing my zucchini.  With his dusty, filthy broom he swept up a dustbin full of mushrooms, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, onions and potatoes that had fallen on the floor.  “What a waste” thought I, “with so many people hungry or undernourished in our world we carelessly let food drop on the floor and it gets thrown away”. Um, wait! No! Am I seeing what I am seeing?

Sweeper dude barely looks back as he hefts the onion and potato over his shoulder and back into the bin.  Ewwwwww. I know that there are people with doggy doo on their shoes walking around here and, for sure, some kid barfed and someone sneezed.  Plus, that broom had more dust bunnies on it than can be found under even my bed. All manner of bacteria hides in dust bunnies.

So I asked the produce manager if my eyes were seeing what I thought they saw.  He said “yes ma’am” “we put the potatoes and onions back in the bin. A bruised tomato or apple goes in the garbage but you are going to peel or wash potatoes and onions anyway, right?”

Well, yes, right. I. think.  I mean, I guess worse things have happened to those root veggies on the farm, on the truck, in storage…And it is probably my false sense of security that helps me feel that my produce is only relatively dirty.  And I am going to wash them.  And, I guess I am happy they aren’t going to waste as I had originally assumed. But, still. 

I am also aware of my privileged state living in this country, in this time, WITH an income. I know that there are loads of people who would not only call me crazy (believe me, I’ve heard worse) but who would be forced to fight me for that potato. It could mean the difference between a meal today or hunger.  But, still. I can’t shake this one. 

Surely, at a grocery store I have a reasonable expectation that my food hasn’t been on the floor.  Or maybe I want to have the choice by knowing the policy. Or maybe I think that fallen food should be discounted so I can make an informed decision.  Or maybe I just don’t want to see it.  Tell me no secrets, tell me some lies, give me no reasons, give me alibis. Just don’t make my brown eyes (or potatoes) blue.

So tell me, where do you land?

I hate Halloween.  Except for the fact that I met my husband for the first time when he was  “Mr. Tomato Head”, nothing about it seems right to me.  It has become a holiday about sugar and candy and nothing else.  I’m all over holidays that celebrate food but I can’t see any actual food in this one.

It’s ok. I can take it. I have been chided for handing out whole grain crackers and pencils before. Funny thing is that the boycott that ensued pleased me.  I’ve tried finding healthier treats, at-least-there-is-no-transfat treats, oh, screw it, just give ‘em what they want treats…one year I hunted down bite-sized healthy rice crispy squares made with brown rice and salba.  (a neighbor told me they tasted pretty good, “like fish bait”). None of the options were quite right. If I were allowed to make homemade treats and hand them out, I would! I am happy with brownies, caramel corn and candy apples but that’s not allowed. I know there are psychos out there but the commercialization of this spooky evening makes me want to opt out all together.

This year, for the first time since I became an adult, I did try the curmudgeon technique.  My daughter did not go out (c’mon, she’s a teenager!) and I felt justified in pulling the curtains, turning off the lights and ignoring the door.  Here’s the thing-it also felt wrong.  We live in a very chummy neighborhood where all the parents are out, wine in hand, for the fun.  The community going on out there has more impact on keeping our kids safe from the psychos and speeders than any school board, church or town hall meeting.   

On the other hand, my family, under my imposing orders, felt scroogy and stressed. I thought it would be a relief.  Instead, we sat downstairs and watched 60 minutes and ate a few of the terrible commercial tiny treats I bought so J wouldn’t feel left out.  But she did. And we did.  Plus, we missed a chance to see our neighbors.

It turns out that I don’t hate Halloween, I love the fun and community (and Mr. Tomato Head) that it comes with. But I still don’t have an answer to the crappy candy debate! Has anyone ever figured out how to reconcile that? I’ll try someone else’s plan next year…