Coming to a Supermarket Near You: Apeel

Philanthropath Bill Gates Continues to Mess With Our Food

A couple of days ago, a friend brought my attention to information about a recently approved food additive (I guess that’s what you’d call it) funded by Bill Gates. The new product, developed by Apeel Sciences in partnership with the Gates Foundation, is an edible coating for fresh produce meant as a solution to food waste.

This may sound like a great idea at first. After all, everyone has had to toss out fresh strawberries, or other produce, that spoiled all too quickly. But is this really a crisis? How much food is “wasted” in the US and why?

Natural beauty: red

The Food and Agriculture Organization claims that about 14% of all produce gets lost or wasted between field and supermarket. How does this occur? Can we do anything to ameliorate this before jumping to spraying our fruits and vegetables with a manmade preservative coating?

A quick search brings up pages of breathless and glowing reports from the usual suspects — Mockingbird Media. Many of these claim that this new coating — which cannot be washed or scrubbed away — will drastically reduce the usage of plastic grocery bags. How is that? They don’t really explain, but I guess maybe they expect us to put our coated “Apeel” apples in our shopping baskets without one of those flimsy produce bags to hold them together?

Safe and effective — per the always truthful government

The product is actually named Edipeel, but the company is marketing it under the Apeel brand name. A quick look at the Apeel website may make you believe it’s innocently derived from various plant parts — you know — like peels, pith, seeds, and similar.

Let’s chat over coffee.

But…you’d be wrong in assuming that. Apparently, it’s actually derived from an emulsifying compound called E471. This compound is composed of monoglycerides and diglycerides. More on what these are and how they’re used here. Apparently, many of the junkier foods people commonly consume contain these compounds because they lengthen shelf life and serve a couple of other functions as well.

Acorn squash (Source: Gluck Farms - a DBA of Gluck Interests, LLC)

Although Edipeel is a new product, it’s made up of compounds the food manufacturers have added to their wares for decades. That means it’s safe and effective, right? No need to investigate the Edipeel product specifically.

Every little drop helps!

I searched for studies conducted by the company or a third party, but couldn’t find any. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but I just couldn’t find them if they do. I did find a study that investigated the effect of emulsifiers as food additives and some “preliminary evidence of adverse gastrointestinal and metabolic health effects.” The study is behind a paywall, so I could only see the abstract.

Know where your food comes from

This novel food coating is already extending the shelf life of produce in various supermarkets. The most astonishing thing is that it’s approved for organic foods. What? Why only for organic produce?

A glimpse of just one part of our little homestead (Source: Gluck Farms - a DBA of Gluck Interests, LLC)

At our tiny homestead farm (and we’ll also follow the same on our 70 acres in Idaho) we follow permaculture principles. Permaculture embraces methods that nurture the environment, draw on heritage, and elevate the immediate economy. Which brings us to three primary reasons you should make it a priority to know where your food comes from:

1. Shorten the gap between farm to fork. With the convenience of just going to the store to get some peaches, tomatoes, or apples — even out of season — people have disconnected from a healthy respect regarding what it takes to grow food. Many children, even teens, have no understanding of where cheese comes from. Take some time to research just how flour is made, how cows and goats are raised, and what it means to get eggs from free-range chickens.

2. Greater control over what goes into your body. Buying pre-packaged and processed foods may be convenient, but those come with a load of additives and ‘bonus ingredients’ that you may not want to put into your body. These shelf stable foods often contain the aforementioned emulsifiers, seed oils, sugars, and other disruptive chemicals. Take control of what you eat, even if it’s only a few items at first.

3. Buying locally produced foods helps your immediate economy. Buying, preparing, and eating locally sourced foods truly makes your food taste better. I can’t explain this one…it’s a mystery, but it’s true. Plus, it uplifts the farmer’s market, or co-op selling the food to expand and keep offering up the fruits of their labor. Plus, your hard-earned money stays in your local economy, giving your community a better chance to thrive.

Loofah. Yes, we’re growing loofahs! (Source: Gluck Farms - DBA of Gluck Interests, LLC)

My last piece of advice is to grow your own food. I know it sounds daunting and like too much work. Or, maybe you tried to grow something once and it failed. That happens. Choosing one or two foods to grow, at first, takes away some of the overwhelm.

Growing your own food is like co-creating with God. It’s a mystical and beautiful thing. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about getting started. I may not know the answer off the top of my head, but I definitely know where to find it.