Considering the Banana

Did you know that Americans eat more bananas than any other fruit?  We slice them in our cereal or blend them in our smoothies every day without a single thought to the history, economic impact, environmental impact, or even the biology of a banana.

How Does a Banana Plant Grow?
As an elementary teacher, I remember teaching a lesson on plants in which we looked at different types of seeds.  A student asked, "how does a banana plant grow if there are no seeds?". Until now I didn't know the answer to this, but after reading the book, Banana: the Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World, I have a better understanding of banana biology.
Bananas are a perennial, but they don't pollinate like other fruit trees.  Instead, a banana plant has a bulb that eventually goes back under the earth and grows a new plant.

Most bananas are grown in equatorial regions such as Latin America and Africa.  The banana that we eat in the United States is called the Cavendish.  It was bred in a lab to resist disease, withstand travel, have the sweet taste we are used to, and was only introduced to markets in the 1960's.

For more information on banana planting check out the website: BananaLink

Little did I know...
I recently read the book, Small Wonders, by Barbara Kingsolver, in which she appeals to the reader to stop buying and eating bananas, referring to them as the humvee of the global food trade.  The sad truth is that bananas are rife with problems.  Along with being a monoculture (one crop growing on a field) which leads to clear cutting of forest lands, they are also highly susceptible to disease and require massive amounts of toxic chemicals which are harmful to workers and farmers.  Often working conditions are dismal at best in countries where bananas are grown and policies are shaky and weakly enforced.  As if this wasn't enough, many equatorial countries depend on bananas as a staple food, but the largest companies (Dole, Chiquita, and Del Monte) who control the banana crops are sending bananas out of the countries who need them most to banana hungry markets in Europe and the United States.

As I consider the impact of my actions, especially my food buying choices, bananas were the first to go from my shopping list.  I wish I could be, but I'm not a purist, and plan to greatly cut back in my banana consumption.  In his book, Banana: the Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World, Dan Koeppel says,

"The beloved fruit, as we consume it, just isn't practical.  It never has been.  There has always been a cost to the fruit's south-to-north trade, one that we, as shoppers, have never borne.  The best solution for most of the social ills caused by the industrialization of food production is to give up the exotics."

Bananas in Sri Lanka
Bananas in Thailand
I've had the privilege of traveling to several different countries in the world and sampling amazing local produce along the way.  In Oman, we ate local bananas that were smaller and sweeter their American counterpart.  In Uganda the bananas were larger and more tart.  I'm thankful for my travels and the local produce I have been able to enjoy, but at no point have I wanted someone to offer this at my local grocery.  There's something special about remembering a place through it's flavors.

Hopefully by making this choice, I will someday travel back to a banana growing country and get to experience the flavor again but in a whole new way.

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