Say goodbye to Bananas? Say it isn't so!

[devilgrrl]

Bananas Are Dying, Killed by Corporate Monoculture

(NaturalNews) Prepare to say goodbye to bananas. Do you remember back in the sixties when there was a change in bananas? It wasn't announced, but those of us who love the fruit did. They became less sweet and creamy -- just not as good. There was no information about it. The change seemed to slip under the radar and most of us forgot about it.

That change foretold what's now coming -- the complete death of bananas. No, this is not hyperbole. Bananas are dying, and their death is a precursor of what's to come if we continue to accept corporate farming. But first, back to the impending loss of bananas.

We tend to think of bananas as a single species with no more than one or two variations on the theme --something like oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits that are all variations of a single species. That, though, is far from the truth. Until the mid-eighteen hundreds, most bananas grew wild and local people ate them, though some local cultivation existed. There was a huge variety. Some were sweet and some sour. Some were creamy, while others had a bit of crunch. Some were yellow, but others were red or purple. Today, most of that variety is lost.

Chiquita's History

During the 1870's, Minor Keith was a young man from a wealthy railroad company who went to Costa Rica to help build a national railroad. He and other relatives accomplished the task at the cost of 5,000 workers' lives. He also started planting bananas, a crop that was gaining popularity in the U.S., on the easements along the railway. The Costa Rican government could not make payments on its railroad loans from British banks. Because of his wealth and connections, Keith was able to raise the money to finish the job, largely by negotiating a significant decrease in the interest rate, from 7% down to 2.5%. This put him in the debt of the dictator, whose daughter he had married, so he was granted 800,000 acres of tax-free land along the railroad, where he'd been planting bananas, along with a 99-year lease on the railroad's operation along that route.

more: http://www.naturalnews.com/023339.html

[Cant trust em]

1. Oh man. For a second I thought you mean Bananas, the DUer.

Actual bananas being gone is bad too.

[bananas]

2. I'm still here!

:wave:

[Cant trust em]

3. Phew.

Our little DUniverse cracks me up sometimes.

:hi:

[madaboutharry]

4. There was an article a few years ago, it

may have been in The Nation, that detailed the horrific birth defects suffered by children whose pregnant mothers worked in Chiquita's banana fields. The birth defects were caused by banned chemicals known to damage fetuses. It was heartbreaking.

[Mojorabbit]

5. I have three different

kinds of bananas growing in my yard. None of them are the kind you buy in the store. It seems they could try another variety?

[seabeyond]

6. doesnt look, feel, taste, smell like bananas... same thing is happening to cantaloupe last year and

more.

a couple years ago buying bananas saying doesnt feel, look, taste like a banana and couldnt peel like a banana. what the hell are we being sold.

for the last year i have been seeing cantaloup not looking like cantaloupe and saying hte same thing. the few fruits that were even edible are now going along the wayside. yet we are lecturing our children to eat healthier

[justinaforjustice]

7. Bananas Are Alive and Well in Venezuela

Bananas are only extinct in U.S. supermarkets, where they sell card board replacements that look like bananas, but don't taste like them. The U.S. agro-industry has bred bananas to look perfect -- not a brown spot on them -- but these "perfect" bananas taste like cardboard. I'm sure there isn't a nutrient in the bunch. The same marketing ploys have ruined tomatoes, cantaloupe and other fruit in U.S. markets. They look perfect, but they are worthless. The eradication of our small farmers by the agri-businesses is destroying American nutrition for the majority of Americans. Only the wealthy can afford to eat organic fruits and vegetables.

I'm now lucky to live in Venezuela where there are hundreds of varieties of great tasting bananas, some for cooking, some for eating. They come from a small local farms and are full of natural nutrients. They cost, on average about 50 cents a kilo in our local outdoor market. Even the supermarkets here still carry real old fashioned bananas, spots and all. The real tomatoes are even cheaper than bananas.

The U.S. needs to divest agri-business of its monopoly on produce and revive our small farms. President Chavez is encouraging small farm development here by subsidizing start-up costs for small farm cooperatives and taking land from big plantations that is not being actively cultivated and has questionable title for use by small farmers.

Chavez is encouraging small businesses, both private and cooperative, in a variety of fields. I am involved with a cooperative of language teachers. Extremely low interest loans with generous pay back terms are helping us to get the equipment and buildings we need.

Given the economic depression that the U.S. is now going through, unemployed workers might be able to join together to start their own small businesses or farms if the government would help with the start-up costs. After all, they are subsidizing agri-business as well as the profit bloated oil industry, but I guess we only allow socialism for the rich in the United States.