b'The fact that millions of children lack a diet rich inmarketing Arctic apples, GM apple varieties designed to fruits and vegetables, and that malnourishment patternsnot turn brown when bitten, sliced, or bruised. This was are related to colonization, is something thats crucial todone by turning off a gene that causes browning.acknowledge and explore, she adds. One of the things that we made a decision on very Golden Rice is often portrayed by its proponents as aearly in our commercialization efforts was to be transpar-gift to the developing world, but to me that now reeks ofent in our communications. As an underlying philosophy scientific imperialismperpetuating band-aid solutionsof how we would move forward, that was actually met while suggesting that poor countries should be thankful.with criticism by some. We felt that it was so important That feels gross to me. to be clear and open about what we have done and why After writing a piece for Slate concerning her viewsweve done it, she says.on Golden Rice, Senapathy says she received a lot ofAlthough Arctic Apple products have received some backlash from GM proponents who accused her of beingconsumer backlash due to them being GMOs, Armen says anti-science. consumer response as a whole has been very positive. Their response was really enlightening to me. ItThe company markets Arctic apples as a pre-sliced fresh brought to mind something that I often point out, andapple product sold in resealable bags in both their Arctic that is that those running the pro-GMO discourse preachGolden and Arctic Granny varieties.whats become a scientific gospel that says if youre pro- When consumers taste our product, and when we science, then you must be pro-GMO, and if youre criticaltake the time to explain about what weve done to create of anything related to GMOs, then youre anti-GMO andthe Arctic apple, we have overwhelming acceptance of therefore anti-science. That polarized lack of nuance isntthe fruit.about science, its about ideology. A Tesco survey done several years ago demonstrated that up to 40% of all fresh apples that are produced are Transparency is Key never consumed, with a large part of that loss occurring Changing deeply embedded patterns of business behav- in consumers homes.iour can be hard, but for Jenn Armen, vice-president busi- To get the consumer to the point of accepting the ness and corporate development for Okanagan Specialtyproduct, Okanagan Specialty Fruits has made a point of Fruits based in Hendersonville, North Carolina, doing justexplaining the technology involved in creating the fruit.that was key for the company when it created and beganWe did have some pushback fairly early on in our commercialization efforts, but what we find today is consumers are very happy to have something tasty and convenient for their children to eat, something that they can expect will last in their home refrigerator, which at the same time is a safe, sustainable product, Armen says.Best Interests at HeartSenapathy herself was able to tour the Arctic apple pro-duction facility in 2018 and taste the product. In her piece written for SciMoms.com, she notes the product has tangi-ble societal benefits that make it stand out from other GM foods.Discourse and engagement have been shown to be effective in helping clarify consumer misunderstandings in an easier way than typical science communication would, Boecker saysbut it has to be done right.When its done wrong, that bitter taste hangs around on peoples tongues, especially when they perceive sci-ence communication to be authoritative and condescend-ing. When you do it that way, you make things worse for everyone, he adds. Watch our full-length interview with Kavin, Andreas and Jenn at germination.ca/gmo-image-problem28GERMINATION.CAJANUARY 2022'