Going Bananas?Jessica Hendrix

Culture, Food, and AgricultureApril 30, 2010

So, What Should I Do with this Banana?

• Broiled in sugar• Jam• Baked• Mashed for babies• Dehydrated• Preserved for famine

• Feed Livestock• Plates• Wrappers• Umbrellas• Thatching• Packing• Cigarette wrapping• Raft• Cushioning• Fishing line• Medicinal

Bananas

• Musaceae–Musa• Large herb producing berries• Over 200 varieties• Wild variety• Three banana belts

How to Grow a Banana

• Well-drained acidic soils• Weed control• Wind protection• Irrigation• Protection

A Worldwide Favorite

• Staple food for Africa and Central America• Originated in Indo-Malaysian to North

Australia region• Portuguese transported to South America in

1500s• 1804 bananas reach New York City from Cuba

Start of a World Industry

• Began as a shipping enterprise• Realized the benefits of consolidation• Struggle to keep up with growing demand

Great Marketing

• Radio commercials• Cook books• Doctors support• Catchy songs– “Yes, We Have No

Bananas!”• “Brazilian Bombshell”

Carmen Miranda•Chiquita logo

Dollar Bananas• Trade with the US• Regulated by free market trade and oligopoly• Dominant system• Originally United Fruit Company• Control 80 percent of the market• Vertically integrated

ACP Bananas

• Trade between Africa, Caribbean, Pacific with Europe

• Regulated by preferential market agreements between countries

• Separate shipping and production companies• Small plantations

Banana Republics

• Banana industry closely linked with American imperialism

• El Pulpo• United controlled countries domestic policies• Countries became, and still are, highly

dependent upon banana trade• Columbia and Ecuador have managed to break

away

Banana Wars• 1993 EU set regulations for preferential

treatment to former colonies• Chiquita protested• World Trade Organization got involved• 1999 WTO ruled in favor of Chiquita• Further modifications in 2001 that are still

being debated

Destructive Diseases• Panama Disease– Fungus– Extremely bad news– ‘Gros Michel’ cultivar– ‘Cavendish’ cultivar• Black Sigatoka• Bunchy Top

Banana Workers

• Initially native workers in control• Then the overseers and technology took over• Now victims of the “race to the bottom”• Plantations only receive 11 cents per dollar

spent

More work

• No rights• Long hours• Little protection • No unions allowed• Solidarismo promoted• Poor living conditions• ACP different– Family labor

Gender RolesMen• Chemical

application• Prune• Wrap• Harvest• Load

Women• Packing• Cutting• Applying fungicides

Men are often paid 3 to 4 times more than women for the same jobSexual harassment is a problemChild labor is also common

Environmental Impacts

• Deforestation• Waste disposal• Water pollution• Coral reef destruction• Loss of biodiversity• Severe erosion• Flooding

Some is good, more is better!

• More pesticides used on bananas than any other crop, except for cotton

• Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, nematocides

• Aerial spraying • High rates of pesticide

poisonings

A Sustainable Future?

• NGOs• Better Banana Project Certification• Organic• Fair Trade• Intercropping

Yes, We Will Have No Bananas!

No genetic diversity+

Panama disease+

Limited research occurring =

NO Bananas!