A world without bananas?

A friend recently blogged about the world's banana predicament, as discussed in this article. The author gives the mass-produced Cavendish banana another decade before it is wiped out by Panama disease, the result of cloning and unsustainable food practices. "What will the world taste like without bananas?", she asked. My immediate response was to say that without bananas, the world will be less sweet. We will lack an important source of potasium and the essential ingredient for banana bread, banana chocolate chip muffins and banana splits. The staple of breakfast, afternoon snacks and late night hunger cravings will be missing from our lives. Yes, significantly less sweet, but for who?


I guess it never seemed odd to me to be chowing down on a seemingly unending supply of bright yellow tropical fruit in the middle of February in Canada. The banana, like chicken or milk, is simply an integral part of my diet. It is rare that I, and many of us I'm sure, pause to consider where they came from. The fact is that most come from here, or quite nearby. Guatemala is among the leading exporters of bananas in the world.


The article points to the Central American political struggles over food production, and cites bananas as the cause of the 1954 American overthrow of the first democratically elected Guatemalan government in history. Agrarian land reform, heavily implicating bananas, was definitly a leading factor causing the begining of the internal armed conflict. I wonder if any other fruit leaves a trail of such intense and widespread political struggle?

Last night I was sitting on my roof thinking about what it would be like to eat in Canada as they do here, that is, to only eat foods that are in season. The arrival of each fruit and vegetable would be eagerly anticipated, making it even more delicious upon its arrival. You would only get the best of the best, each type at its peak of flavour and texture. Sure we wouldn't have bananas, mangos, or pineapple, but each apple the in fall, each June strawberry, July tomato and August peach or concord grape would be so tasty, so worth the wait. Sure winter would be a bit problematic, but the rest of the year I'm sure we could live off the food produced within a couple hundred kilometers of where we live. Food for thought at least, while you go enjoy those bananas while they last.