BANANA’S

HISTORY OF BANANAS

Early History

Bananas were originally founded in South East Asia, most common in India in the region of MalaysiaBananas were found to be first cultivated in Papa New Guinea by Friar Tomas de BerlangaBananas got their name from what the native New Guineans referred to them as “banema”This fruit was also said to be the first cultivated crop, even proceeding the cultivation of riceBananas migrated towards the western civilization by curious Arabian travelers in early 300 B.C.

Early History

Bananas are found in writings that date as far back as 6th century B.C.The word “banan” in Arabic means finger suggesting to historians that the banana was of small varietyIn 327 B.C. Alexander the great even wrote about his first taste of the curious tree fruit and claimed that he was the one who introduced the fruit to the western world particularly the Mediterranean countries

Early History

Islamic conquerors migrated the plant to Madagascar and PalestineFrom there Portuguese sailors moved the plant to Europe and West Africa in 1502 where many genetic mutations occurredIt was then imported by the Portuguese to Canary Islands and West Indies in 1482

Bananas in the 1800’s

In 1870 the Banana was introduced into the United States by two men almost simultaneously, Lorenzo Dow baker and Minor KeithLorenzo Dow baker was a sea captain and brought some of the fruit back from his journey to JamaicaMinor Keith was a railroad constructor who found and plated banana plants along his railroads and transported to the US through his trains

Bananas in the 1800’s

North Americans were said to begin consuming bananas, in small quantities and high prices shortly after the civil war Americans got to really taste the banana in a celebration to mark the one hundredth anniversary of signing the declaration of independence in 1876 (Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition)Bananas were found wrapped in foil on street corners and marketsThey were sold for a high price of 10 cents each

Bananas in the 1800’s

Citizens were even given instructions on how to eat the curious new fruitThe bananas were eaten with a fork on a plateSoon after the bananas were being imported from the Caribbean to New Orleans, Boston, and New York

Bananas in the 1800’s

Early modern plantations started in Jamaica and most of Central AmericaSteamships and railroads played a major role in the importation of the cropThe invention of refrigeration allowed more time between harvesting and ripening which increased sales

Marketing Bananas

Marketing and cultivating the plant became almost an overnight sensationExporting the fruit meant establishing companies due to its plantationEventually an entire industry emerged in Central and South America for plantation and export of the fruit

Banana Marketing

Bananas Weren’t Always Yellow?

Bananas weren’t always yellow, early on described as red and green mostly to be used for cookingThe yellow banana was actually a mutant strain discovered in 1836 by Jean Francois Poujot

Bananas Weren’t Always Yellow?

He saw one of his trees was growing a strange yellow fruit instead of the red and green that was normalHe quickly ate one and found that this banana was sweet eaten raw and therefore eliminated the need for cooking

Bananas Today

Bananas today are one of the most popular fruits world wideThis fruit is cultivated in 170 different countriesBananas play a major role in most developing countries This fruit is low in calories and fat while high in B6, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and easy to digest making it the perfect snackThey have also been found to increase brain power

Bananas- Environmental/health impact

Harvesting / Production

• Destruction of tropical rain forests• Loss of biodiversity• Monoculture: soil fertility diminishes.• Pesticides

Harvesting / Production• Waste• Pollution: Use of agrochemicals.• Large amounts of labor force paid with low

wage rates.

Calcetta, Ecuador.

-Costa Rica

Health on those who produce bananas

• Polluted water• Physically apply agrochemicals.• Unemployment

Health on those who consume bananas

• Bananas are reproduced from the stalks of other banana plants, not seeds.

List of diseases:• Panama Disease• Banana Bunchy Top Disease• Black Sigatoka

Facts

• The banana market has been reported to have a surplus in the economy, thus expecting present farms to continue in the production of bananas, rather then an expansion to new land.

• 4th largest agricultural product in the world.• Americans eat an average consumption of

26.2 pounds per year, more than apples and oranges combined!

Think twice before throwing away a banana peel!

Production/ Working conditions

Fun fact: Bananas are the most popular fruit in the United States. Americans eat an average of 28

pounds of bananas per person per year. That equals about 112 bananas per person per year.

Where is the product grown?

Today, there are over 400 banana varieties grown in the world. Bananas are native to hot, humid tropical regions like Central America and the Caribbean.

Where do Chiquita Banana grow?

In 1876, bananas were first introduced to the United States public through the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of America. They sold for 10 cents apiece. Today, there are over 400 banana varieties grown in the world.

Where are Chiquita Banana farms:

• Chiquita Banana farms are located all over the world: Asia, South America, North America, Europe and Africa. Chiquita banana farms are most concentrated in fertile soil regions of Central America; from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador.

Does it create heath risk to produce it?

• The use of chemicals impact workers’ health. • Banana plantations use a pesticide called Nemagon to kill a

microscopic worm that feeds on the banana plant roots. Although this was successful in killing the worms, without hurting the plant.

• It was causing sterility in men, miscarriages, birth defects, various types of cancer, depression, impotence etc.

• The workers had to carry the chemical in containers on their backs as they treated the banana plants.

What are the conditions like for those who grow?

• Poor working conditions and wages

• Harassment of Union workers and leaders

• Child Labor• Sexual harassment of

women• Violence used against

people who try to organize unions

• Workers receive no respect

• assassination of union leaders

Violence used against people who try to organize unions

• The company has agreed in principle to a “Memorandum of Understanding” providing specific protection for recognized union representatives and leaders against disciplinary measures and dismissal.

Sexual harassment of women

• "Sexual harassment in banana plantations, notably in packing areas where the majority of women work, has been historically far too common and remains too common today. We recognize that Chiquita has a well-developed internal policy seeking to eliminate the problem but its willingness to sit with unions regionally and internationally to develop a common agreement to drive this practice out of Chiquita workplaces is welcome and will have a real impact on the ground."

Studies and experiments

Pesticides have been intensively used on banana plantations, for example dibromochloropropane. Researchers identified 368 cancer cases, 292 among men.

• After reading all of the studies and articles and effects of pesticides you can come to the conclusion that men are affected more greatly than women.

Exporters

• With an estimated two thousand tons Costa Rica is the second largest exporter after Ecuador. Bananas are the single largest agricultural export, followed at a distance by pineapples and coffee.

• by the end of the 1990s the banana industry was employing more workers than any other single agricultural activity.

• This figure shows the Banana exports in 1985-2001.

Importers

• Developed countries are accounted for 83 percent of banana imports.

• United States is the number one Banana importer.

Politics and economics Bananas have for the last century been one of the

cheapest products in supermarkets This was due to the presence of large fruit

companies such as the former United Fruit Company (now called Chiquita Brands International)

These banana companies used economic and political power to take control of the economies and governments of several latin american countries “Banana republics”

Politics and economics cont. Workers were horribly mistreated and the majority of

wealth and land was controlled by a very small minority Workers sought to improve their lot and tried to use

political power to their advantage Banana companies were threatened by this and used

the fear of communism in America to accomplish their own ends

With the help of the CIA the United Fruit Company was able to topple the regimes of nations such as Guatemala in military coups and ensure that their economic hegemony went unchallenged

Politics and economics cont.

United Fruit Company throughout the 20th century was forced to reduce its holdings as part of an anti-trust suit

One of its subsidaries was bought by Del Monte which became a competitor to the now branded Chiquita Brands International

With the collapse of the Soviet Union a new market for bananas opened up but failed to significantly increase demand for bananas

Politics and economics cont. Throughout the 1990s due to high production

and low demand the price of bananas dropped

As a new strain of debilitating panama disease sweeps the world the future of the banana industry stands in doubt, unless a resistant species can be engineered or found the days of 1 dollar bananas may be no longer.

THE END