The Journey Through Appy and Corny: How and Why Do Plants and Animals Produce and Modify Our Food? By: Isabell Cotter, Rachel Ivey, Sarah Graupp, Becca Seymour, Alexa Taylor, Angie Phrasavath

Corny and Appy are best friends, but they grew up very differently. Corny and Appy are best friends. But they grew up and were raised very differently.

Although they weren’t treated the same, they both were born by the process of pollination. Pollination is the process of taking pollen from one plant to another. This process results in fertilized ovaries which then produces seeds. The seeds are stored in the fruits and vegetables we eat!

Appy’s apple tree uses cross-pollination and needs the help of animals like wasps and bees to transport pollen from tree to tree. This creates unique, or genetically diverse, apples like Appy!

Corny’s corn plant is considered monoecious which means it contains male and female reproduction parts and can self- pollinate. Corn cross-pollinates because the male and female parts are far apart and there is so much pollen from other corn that it does’nt need to self-pollinate!

But besides pollination, Corny and Appy’s farm were not similar at all!

I grew up on an organic farm I grew up on an organic farm. Farmer Bob hand weeds and tills the farm to ensure that each plant has the opportunity to live a full life. Organic foods are supposed to be foods grown or made without the use of artificial chemicals. Organic farming uses environmentally friendly methods to grow healthy produce such as spinach without the use of chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers. Organic products should not contain genetically modified organisms or ever irradiated. So why go organic?

Farmer Bob cares about the earth and grows food without yucky chemicals. Farmer Bob knows that the yucky chemicals are bad for underground water and kills honey bees. Those who tend to buy organic understand that the pesticides and herbicides that farmers use on their crops contaminate groundwater, ruins soil by promoting erosion and may even be a contributor to the "colony collapse disorder" of honeybees. Buying and growing organic food is not only good for your health but good for the health of earth. Spinach is reported to be one of the most heavily pesticide-contaminated produce products. The packaging for some spinach also exposed spinach to radiation to kill harmful bacteria that is on the leaves. The FDA approves irradiation up to 4.0 kilograys, which is concerning because it may cause depletion of its nutritional value.

Farmer Bob keeps detailed records of his plants and thinks long and hard each year before he begins. He is required to follow strict guidelines to make sure each plant is correctly cared for.

Unlike Farmer Bob, some farmers stick to their normal way of farming Unlike Farmer Bob, some farmers stick to their normal way of farming. Organic farming can take a lot of time and risky if not done correctly. A lot of other farmers rely on chemicals and easier ways of harvesting to ensure their crops grow. Old McDonald is an example of one of these farmers.

by bugs, but that means the food isn’t as healthy as Farmer Bob’s! Farmer Bob also cares about how good the food is! When the plants are sprayed with yucky chemicals, the people that eat those plants eat the yucky chemicals too! Old McDonald uses yucky chemicals to make sure his plants don’t get eaten by bugs, but that means the food isn’t as healthy as Farmer Bob’s!

Appy grew up on a farm- but was genetically modified! Old McDonald gave a shot (of toxin bacteria, Bacillus Thuringiensis) to Appy to make sure insects or viruses would never hurt her. Old McDonald wants to make the healthiest and biggest apples ever, by using genes from the strongest plants and used them to make a whole family of strong and tasty apples!

Step 1: Old McDonald first has to find the gene he thinks is the strongest and then isolate it. Step 2: He then speeds up the reproduction of the gene by putting it inside a bacterial cell. Step 3: After that, he puts the newly strong genes into the DNA Molecule which will give the apple the genes it needs . Step 4:These strong new genes insert themselves into the Apple plants genome which will soon create strong apples! Step 5:The apples will grow and reproduce which will create a new family of strong apples! Once these genes are active in the apple they will now be able to survive herbicides and even droughts!

Old McDonald also knows how to make apples that aren’t sour, won’t brown, and would save him lots of money (up to 40% of savings compared to the cost of chemical antioxidants)! Neal Carter, president of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, in British Columbia, Canada, and his team created this experiment and coined the term “arctic apples”

Old McDonald calls his apples “arctic apples” or “arctic Appy” for short. He makes them by giving more shots of the same genes that the apple already has.

When there’s too many PO enzymes, the apple shuts them all down! The genes produce an enzyme, called polyphenol oxidase (PO), which makes apples brown. When there’s too many PO enzymes, the apple shuts them all down! This process makes a happy Appy because he will look younger longer!

Farmer Bob and Old McDonald dream of a world filled with Appy’s and Corny’s, plants tall and small! And are healthy and hearty for kids like you!

They want to make sure your tummies are filled with yummy nutrients and vitamins to help you grow mighty and strong! THE END

Sources: Unknown. (2012). A Closer Look at Corn Pollination. Retrived from http://www.aganytime.com/Documents/ArticlePDFs/agSpotlight-ACloserLookatCornPollination.pdf Unknown. (2014). Apple Tree Pollination. Retrived from http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/apple-tree- pollination Unknown. (2013). Organic Farming Research Foundation. Retrived from http://ofrf.org/organic-faqs Unknown. (2014). Grace Communications Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.sustainabletable.org/207/soil-quality Unknown. Organic Farming. Retrived from http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/farmschool/nature/organic.htm Unknown. Local, Organic Farming. Retrived from http://www.nofany.org/organic-farming Albert’s Organics The Organic Produce Handbook. Retrived from http://albertsorganics.com/sites/default/files/146ED135-EB60-430F-BCA6-93022D38E87F.pdf Dan Charles. (2014). This GMO Apple Won’t Brown. Will That Sour the Fruits Reputation?. Retrived from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/01/08/260782518/this-gmo-apple-wont-brown-will-that-sour-the-fruits-image