R Blog: Omnivore’s Dilemma, Part II The Alar Episode

Occasionally, one is reminded of one’s participation in history. Reading Michael Pollan’s new book, Omnivore’s Dilemma, I remembered that I played a very minor role in the “Alar episode of 1989.” Alar was a chemical that apple growers used on their crops “to regulate their growth, make their harvest easier, and enhance their color". I lived in Yakima, Washington at the time and was the insurance broker for a number of large growers who were outraged when certain grocery chains and food processors refused to accept Alar treated fruit when studies revealed it was a carcinogen—particularly harmful to children. I had many fevered conversations with growers worried that claims for cancer might arise. This was a big economic deal. The loss to the industry significant. Tons of apples and juice were dumped. I wrote about Alar brieflly in my own book, Diagnosis Unknown.
“In the mid 1980’s when the National Resources Defense Council got "60 Minutes” to blow the whistle on Alar, the grumpy old men who controlled the fruit became defensive and convinced an apple dependent community to grumble as well about that goddamn Ed Bradley and Meryl Streep, who quickly became the actress you’d most to slap silly.” p.23 Meryl Streep, the Academy Award winning actress, testified about the dangers of chemically laden food to children in an appearance before Congress that garnered wide publicity. The growers were angry but, I went on to point out, that they quit using Alar as they’d quit using DDT and a long list of other chemicals. Pollen notes that the Alar scare was a “watershed, marking the birth pangs of the modern organic industry.” At the time I had one client, a visionary grower named Pedro Garza, who had seen the future. Pete had already managed to get a good-sized orchard plot certified organic and was able to sell all his apples at a premium price. The larger growers, in a fit of pique sued CBS et al for 100 million dollars. Their suit was dismissed in 1994. During that period, however, they had Pete Garza’s vision and began to convert part of their orchards to organic. They weren’t committed to organic fruit from any belief system. They just wanted to get the few dollars a box premium that organic demanded in the marketplace. I always look at those apple labels and am amused to see familiar names raising organic who, I’m guessing, could care less about the presumed health benefits of organic produce.
But as you will learn when you read Omivore’s Dilemma the fact that the big boys play organic provides benefits: for the environment because of less chemical runoff, for the workers because of less chemical exposure, and for the consumer because of healthier food. (It still requires lots of petroleum). All these benefits because of an obscure chemical called Alar. The Alar episode is still being spun, downplayed by industries who, at the same time are making money providing organic fruit.