APPLES(MALUS DOMESTICA)

By Monica Sweeney

ORIGINS AND HISTORY Highly debated Originated in Asia

SE Asia Caucasus Kazakhstan Georgia

Neolithic (9500-4500 BCE) 6500 BCE: Anatolia (Turkey) 1300 BCE: Egypt 700 BCE: Greece 44 BCE: England and France Followed Christianity throughout Europe Brought to North America and Australia by colonizers Spread across North American continent by settlers

SOCIOCULTURAL LINKS

Found in some of the oldest writings Myths and folklore

Greek legends Biblical stories Medieval Germany folklore

Customs Symbols Sayings Games Company trademarks

DEMOGRAPHIC VARIANCES

The “American fruit” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Popular and widespread Moderately priced

Mostly grown in more industrialized countries Historically

Were rare and expensive in ancient Greece 1600s: Grow by kings and the wealthy and

powerful

COLONIAL AMERICA

Apples important part of colonial life Grown in almost any climate Spread across continent Provided: wood, apple vinegar, food for winter,

and CIDER Cider

Safer than water Exempt from the Prohibition at first

Sign of settlement Ohio land grants: plant 50 apple or pear trees Kept settlers there

Sweet apples were a treat Johnny Appleseed

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

2nd most popular fruit One of most widely grown Global production

Grown in about 90 countries (2004) 13 million acres (2004) Over 140 billion lbs/yr (2005) Apple exports: 8.5 million apples (2007)

US production Grown in over 35 states Almost 400 thousand acres (2004) 10.1 billion lbs/yr (2004) Apple industry worth: $176 billion (2004)

CLONING

Heterozygous: high variability No seed will grow up to be like parent tree Allows for diversity and survival in diverse

environments

Causes problems for human cultivators Grafting High susceptibility to pests and

disease

PESTICIDE USE

Need more pesticides than any other food crop

100s of insects feed on them Numerous diseases Excessive pesticide use due to poor risk

assessment Severe consequences

Pest resistance Killing of natural predators Decrease in biodiversity Ingested by humans

GENETIC MODIFICATION

Allows apples to: Grow in harsher climates Be pest, disease, or herbicide resistant Produce more fruit

Hybridization Negative effects

Patent protection Harm or kill non-target species Unknown effects on human consumers Scare away consumers

LAND USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Initial land clearing Habitat loss Decreased

biodiversity Exotic species

Pesticides and fertilizers Effect ecosystem Farm workers Get into soil and

groundwater

THE APPLE INDUSTRY

1900s: Marketing as wholesome, healthy food Research into apple’s health benefits

Growing only a few varieties Turn of the century: 1000s of varieties sold 1976: 13 varieties, 90% of market

Refrigeration National market possible

Corporations Control through patents

Apple market 55-60% Fresh apples 12-15% Canned 2-3% Dried 2-3% Frozen 20-25% Juice, cider, applesauce, vinegar, etc.

ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

Organic, local, sustainable apples possible! Hurtles:

Susceptibility to pests and disease Natural pesticides Natural predators Diversity GM apples

Use of fertilizers Nitrogen fixing cover crops

Storage and preservation Paraffin wax coating Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Storage

BIBLIOGRAPHY2010 An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away, Vol. 2010: Vegetarians in Paradise.

2007 Controlled Atmosphere Storage (CA), Vol. 2010. Wenatchee, WA: Washington Apples.

1998 Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, Vol. 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier Incorporated.

2003 The Complete Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs. E. Wasson, ed. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Press.

Dickson, Elizabeth E., Stephen Kresovich, and Norman F. Weeden1991 Isozymes in North American Malus (Rosaceae): Hybridization and Species Differentiation. Systematic Botany 16(2):363-375.

Elzebroek, A.T.G., and K. Wind

2008 Guide to Cultivated Plants: CAB International.

Fishel, Sean

2010 The U.S. Ranks 5th in Apple Exports, Vol. 2010.

Pollan, Michael

2001 The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World. New York, NY: Random House.

Flachowsky, Henryk, et al.

2010 Transgenic apple plants overexpressing the Lc gene of maize show an altered growth habit and increased resistance to apple scab and fire blight. Planta 231(3):623-635.

Heron, Richard Le, and Michael Roche

1996 Globalization, Sustainability, and Apple Orcharding, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Economic Geography 72(4):416-432.

BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTINUEDKohn, Bernice

1976 Apple: A Bushel of Fun & Facts: Parents' Magazine Press.

Novotorova, Nadezhda K., and Michael A. Mazzocco

2008 Consumer Preferences and Trade-Offs for Locally Grown and Genetically Modified Apples: A Conjoint Analysis Approach. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 11(4).

Pingali, Prabhu L., and Gerald A. Carlson

1985 Human Capital, Adjustments in Subjective Probabilities, and the Demand for Pest Controls. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 67(4):853-861.

Rieger, Mark

2006 Apple - Malus domestica, Vol. 2010.

Schertz, Lois

1993 The U.S. Apple Industry: Econometric Model and Projections. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 22(2).

Shiva, Vandana

2000 Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

Vogler, Ute, et al.

2010 Comparison between volatile emissions from transgenic apples and from two representative classically bred apple cultivars. Transgenic Research 19(1):77-89.