"You're reading what?" my daughters wondered. I was telling them that I had picked up a book at the library called Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. We take cheap, plentiful bananas for granted, even though they were the first exotic fruits available in North American markets. Bananas have been in stores for more than a hundred years and refrigeration in ships was invented to transport bananas from Central America.The story of the development of the banana as a fruit (berry, actually) is interesting, honestly! Sad too. Huge banana plantations were developed by U.S. companies which virtually took over small countries, hence the term Banana Republic. Workers were treated horribly and insurrection was dealt with brutally. Because there is essentially one species of sweet banana grown all around the world, huge amounts of toxic chemicals are used to treat them against diseases which prey on monocultures. The workers who spray and pick have high rates of cancer.
In Africa bananas, in the form of plantains, are a staple of the diet and are affected by the diseases of commercial fruit.
We have been buying organic bananas for a while now after discovering that the stuff sprayed on the regular kind is about as toxic as anything in the grocery store. We now realize that organic is so much better for the workers in the plantations. Fair Trade bananas would be even better but aren't available in Canada.
Now for the religion! Apparently the Koran says the fruit in Adam and Eve's garden was the banana. The bible just says fruit (not an apple) but the Koran and some obscure versions of the Christian scriptures say it was a banana.
There you go...more about the banana than you ever wanted to know.
3 comments:
It sounds like an interesting book. I have been having shakes every morning for the past while, and I enjoy adding half a banana. It adds that texture and taste that is needed. I also think though about where they are coming from. I don't know if I have seen organic bananas at our grocery store. I will have to check. I have thought about not eating them at all, but haven't gone that far. It is very difficult to eat locally and fairly traded all the time, but I keep trying!
The choices are challenging, aren't they Deb?. One grocery store where we buy the organic bananas wraps them in plastic, presumably so folk won't substitute the more expensive ones for the regular ones. We don't want all our food wrapped in plastic.
We'll keep doing our best.
I say "you can never know too much about a banana" thanks for the lesson!
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