I work at a corporate daycare/preschool... in one corner of our playground we have a small fenced area with 6 apple trees in it. Usually we let our kids harvest, clean, and bake with the apples once a year as a learning experience.

We have no funds and no skilled help, so these trees are not 'cared' for. We just let them do their own thing, and take their apples (whatever isn't eaten by bugs or birds before we get to them).

This year I just noticed yellow spots on the leaves of two of the trees - very clearly CAR symptoms. When I look up CAR on the internet I get a lot of information about controlling it, or avoiding it by planting resistant trees.. but I can't find anything about what happens if you DON'T treat it.

Honestly, our parent corporation does not care. They are not going to put the time, money, and skill into this complicated of a problem. So I'm just wondering - what is going to happen to the trees?

Will they die? Will the apples produced be gross, and inedible? Will they stop producing apples altogether? Do I need to speak up and make sure that no one bakes with the apples from an infested tree? OR will it just make the tree a little scraggly/ugly, and otherwise pretty much be fine?

In short: Apples trees have CAR, no one is going to bother to treat them, is it still safe to eat the apples?

Thanks so much for your help.