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THE
FARMGATE
By TREVOR BACQUE and Tyler Difley
GMO Tomatoes in Europe
viaOntario
Leamington, ON, is called the “tomato capital of Canada” and local operation
New Energy Farms has produced a large crop of English tomatoes that aren’t your average piece of fruit.
The tomatoes in question are a deep purple GMO, full of antioxidants and other properties designed to
fight cardiovascular disease and even cancer.
Cathie Martin is a plant biologist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, U.K., where she and her team
developed the technology. The seeds were sent to grow in Canada, thanks to our more open GMO stance
compared with Europe’s strict anti-GMO regulations, she said.
“In Canada, they regulate the trait and not the technology that’s used to develop the trait,” said Martin,
who hopes to sell in Canada, followed by the U.S. and hopefully Europe after that. “If something is ap-
proved in one place, the regulatory burden is lower, especially if it has a consumer advantage.”
Now, with more than 1,200 litres of extracted juice and seeds removed—to quell the prospect of contami-
nation—the juice been sent back to the U.K. for trial research on patients with cardiovascular problems.
Trial research done on mice showed that those living on the purple tomatoes outlasted their red-toma-
to-diet counterparts by 30 per cent, according to Martin.
“All the properties that are supposed to be in berries are also in the tomato,” said Martin. “They’re also
cheaper than berries. It’s a more accessible high-anthocyanin (antioxidant) product.”
No
treatment
for killer
banana
disease
A deadly fungal infection called
Panama disease tropical race 4 (TR4) is appearing
in banana crops around the world. The disease rav-
aged Southeast Asia and Australia before making
its way through the Middle East. Most recently, it
has moved into Africa, devastating millions of ba-
nana plants in Mozambique. For now, the disease
has not been reported in Latin America, where the
bananas consumed in North America are grown.
The soil-based fungus spreads rapidly, often
carried from place to place in soil residue or water
droplets attached to farmmachinery or clothing. It
can survive for more than 30 years in soil and is ca-
pable of destroying a plantation within a few years.
Infected fruit is quickly reduced to inedible black
mush and no effective treatments for the disease
have been found.
Although hundreds of banana varieties are con-
sumed around the world, here in North America
there is just one: the Cavendish banana. This vari-
ety is currently the most successful banana in the
world, and the only one you will find at your local
grocery store. The Cavendish banana represents
47 per cent of the global banana crop and accounts
for almost all banana exports, worth roughly $8
billion annually. It is also susceptible to TR4.
Ironically, the Cavendish banana was created
in the 1950s to replace another banana variety
decimated by disease. Between 1903 and 1960, a
fungus similar to TR4 slowly eliminated the Gros
Michel or “Big Mike” banana, which was more fla-
vourful and less perishable than the Cavendish.
Some scientists believe TR4 has the potential
to destroy 85 per cent of the global banana crop.
Worldwide, more than 400 million people rely
on bananas as their primary source of calories,
according to United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development.
Photo courtesy: AndrewDavies
The Food Issue
2014
Grains
West
10