YAKIMA, Wash. – Meryl Streep is a beloved actress, but in the late ‘80s she was regarded as a villain worthy of the title “Devil Wears Prada” by Washington apple farmers.
The controversy began in 1989 when Streep was enlisted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to promote a study from the organization claiming that the pesticide Altar caused cancer.
Apple farmers argued that the report was sensationalized and inaccurate, but the economic impact of Streep questioning the use of Altar was swift. A Washington family that didn’t even use Altar on its apples had their farm foreclosed upon in 1991 after the market for apples dropped dramatically following the NRDC report.
While Washington apple growers were frustrated, legal attempts to shut down reporting on Altar were swatted down by the US Supreme Court in April 1996. Chris Schlect, the head of the Northwest Horticultural Council in 1989, argued that Streep was harming farmers in Yakima.
“Now we have actresses going out trying to destroy agriculture,” Schlect told the Los Angeles Times.
The Washington Apple Commission also condemned the NRDC report and pointed to the negative impact of the media attention surrounding Altar on Washington’s agricultural workers.
“We worried about the impact that a politically motivated scare campaign can have, not just on apples but on other fruits as well…What’s next?” a Washington Apple Commission spokesman told the Chicago Tribune.
Ultimately, the state’s apple industry recovered, with a projected 134 million 40-pound boxes of apples harvested in 2023 according to Crosscut.
While the episode is now several decades old, it remains a fascinating quirk of history that Meryl Streep has been rebuked by a state agency and a large cohort of Evergreen State apple farmers.
