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America's Favorite fruit the banana: high prices low
availability, coming soon! 6-20-08
As salmon becomes the poster child of what can happen when seafood isn't sourced
responsibly — it's so nutritious! so versatile! and disappearing from our
waters! — bananas are taking up that position in the fruit department.
A staple on American countertops, bananas may be the next item on your list of
convenient must-haves to get a big price increase, according to David Koeppel in
the New York Times. He says the immediate reasons for the price increase are the
rising cost of oil and reduced supply caused by floods in Ecuador.
Koeppel reveals fun facts: Did you know Americans eat as many bananas as apples
and oranges combined? The story of how the fruit became so popular, however,
isn't a pretty one.
The industry has relied on bananas' reputation as a cheap food, according to the
author. He explains that bananas became a staple only after the United Fruit
Company (which is Chiquita today) figured out how to get bananas to American
tables quickly — by clearing rainforest in Latin America, building railroads and
communication networks and inventing refrigeration techniques to control
ripening.
Then, to keep costs low, the company exercised iron-fisted control over the
Latin American countries where the fruit was grown, resorting to heavy-handed
tactics to keep workers quiet.
Koeppel warns that another issue affecting banana prices may be more long-term:
Panama disease. A virulent strain of the disease has been spreading across the
world, and because the banana industry largely sticks to one variety — the
Cavendish — they could all be wiped out.
For now, the price increase might better reflect the fact that bananas are,
after all, an exotic fruit and they travel long distances to get to our tables.
Comment:
In certain parts of the country it is relatively easy to grow your own, especially the dwarf variety.