Atamanenko Urges Federal Government to Reject GM Arctic Apple

Ottawa, ON Alex Atamanenko MP BC Southern Interior – As a result of the US government approving the genetically modified “non-browning” Arctic apple, BC Southern Interior MP, Alex Atamanenko is calling on the federal government to reject its approval in Canada.

“There is absolutely no need to grow GE apples in Canada. Both the BC Fruit Growers Association as well as the Similkameen Okanagan Organic Treefruit Growers Association strongly oppose this approval. There is a very legitimate fear that public backlash would wreak havoc in the marketplace. Customers do not support the genetic tampering of fruit and vegetables for the benefit of patent holders, especially when the genetics of their products cannot realistically be prevented from cross-pollinating with neighboring varieties,” stated the NDP MP.

In July 2012, a Leger Marketing Survey found that 71% of consumers favored having a special category of foods that should not be genetically modified or contain genetically engineered contents, such as fruit, vegetables, milk and baby food.

The Union of BC Municipalities also recently passed a resolution asking the provincial government to, “Legislate the prohibition of importing, exporting and growing plants and seeds containing genetically engineered DNA, and raising GE animals within BC, and to declare through legislation that the province of BC is a GE Free area in respect to all plant and animal species.”

“The bottom line is that neither our fruit growers nor the public see a need for this “non-browning” apple. I strongly urge the federal government to protect our farmers and not approve the GE apple”, concluded Atamanenko.