The Fate Of The Fruit That Changed The World

Due to the massive demand, banana plantations are continuously growing with no thought as to what impact they are having on their surroundings. Unfortunately, Banana plants require nutrient rich soil in order to grow well. As a result, deforestation of huge amounts of land has occurred, and the soil quality of this land has greatly declined. So, what can we do to slow down this disturbing trend of destruction? Stop buying so many bananas, or better yet, buy them locally if available. This may sound daunting or offensively simple but if everyone stops buying so many bananas, then companies like Dole won’t feel so prone to destroy land in the name of

We eat bananas almost every day; however, most of us do not really know where these fruits come from. In Banana Cultures, John Soluri focuses on the relationship between banana production in Honduras, especially in the North Coast between roughly 1870 and 1975, and banana consumption in the U. S.. He focuses on growing, protecting, transporting, and mass marketing of bananas. John Soluri integrates Agroecology, anthropology, political economy, and history in order to trace the symbolic growth of the banana industry. The author admits that his work is highly interdisciplinary, as a desirable trait in the academic world. The study incorporates a wide range of sources, including manuscript census data from Honduras, fruit company records, published scientific records, Honduran and U.S government correspondence, oral testimonies, and ephemera from U.S mass culture. Throughout his work, he combines elements of geography, biology, social history, foreign affairs, and environmental history. Soluri also looks at labor practices and worker’s lives, changing gender roles on the banana plantations, and the effects of pesticides in the Honduran environment and people. His central argument is that United States consumption of bananas causes major social, political, and environmental change in Honduras. In addition, he looks at the banana pathogens, the ways the United States treated these fungal diseases, and the terribly detrimental effects these new treatments had on the farmers on

The Brazilian acai berry has been a food staple for low income families for years and a cultural symbol for generations. This berry is vital in Brazil, where it is farmed and, until recently had a relatively small market. However, after an Oprah interview the demand for acai has become an international affair. The rising demand has created a free market; however the once inexpensive food staple has become too expensive for the low income families. This report will analyse the current markets advantages and disadvantages, followed by two possible government intervention models. The examined interventions will be export tariff and price ceiling.

Banana is a commodity that is widely used worldwide. Bananas are neither too extravagant, nor too expensive meaning that anyone and any level of socio-economic status can purchase them, from the very poor to the very wealthy. Bananas can be found at any brand name store, farmers market, or flea market. Bananas are commodities that are highly valued, traded, and desired. The success of the banana can be attributed to the fact that it can be grown and harvested all year long in different parts of the world. The success lies in the mass production, distribution and consumption of these goods. However, there is an ugly reality people are exploited, countries and people are complete dependent economically on bananas, and countries and terrain are destroyed by those corporations that benefit the most from the distribution of bananas.

I have chosen to investigate the commodity chain of bananas from the company Dole and their contributions to spatial justice. This product interests me because I have previously worked in a grocery store and have seen the great rate at which these bananas are sold on a daily basis. I am interested in seeing how the mass consumption of this product affects the different locations attributed to the commodity chain of Dole bananas. I am curious as to what consequences or benefits the countries that house the banana plantations receive as a result of growing bananas, as well as the benefits that Dole receives from sourcing their bananas internationally effects. From what I have read so far, the commodity chain of Dole bananas starts in countries located in Latin America and Caribbean, such as Costa Rica, Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Honduras. For the purposes of this assignment I will be tracing the bananas that are grown and packed at the Bananito Farm located in the community of Bananito, just south of Limon in Costa Rica; a community designed and constructed by Dole for the workers of their largest banana farm in Costa Rica. Once the

Peter Chapman's expository work Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World was one of the most revelatory pieces of literature I have read. Growing up, we are often told that the integrity of our government is absolute and that the corruption prevalent in some other nations is all but nonexistent in ours. Chapman however, describes a story that directly contradicts this information. During the height of the cold war, the United Fruit Company lobbied the government to overthrow the democratically elected leader of Guatemala, Jacob Arbenz. Arbenz's agrarian reform act would redistribute the land owned by United Fruit Company to the poor farmer class of the country. To counteract this, the United Fruit Company convinced Dwight Eisenhower

Bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) are one of the major staple foods in the world. In 2006 the estimated world production of bananas was 80.6 million tons while 16.8 tons were traded (Cohen, 2011). Although bananas are common today, the origins of the banana are complex and occurred over thousands of years during multiple stages. Archeologists focused on the Kuk Valley of New Guininea, the area where the domestication of bananas supposedly took place around 8,000 BCE (Before Common Era) (Bot, 2007). The study of banana history has been difficult because banana pollen and seeds were rare or absent at archaeological sites. It wasn’t until recent technologies and the use of multi-disciplinary research that we could gain a better understanding. Genetics and linguistic studies also help in understanding the banana origin (Hirst, 2015). Diploid and triploid forms of bananas have been identified and their distribution throughout the world is a key piece of evidence in unlocking the truth about banana domestication.

Sam Van Aken, artist and Syracuse University professor, uses what is known as the grafting technique to grow a tree that bears 40 different kinds of fruits.

According to Bacigalupi, “Jaidee passes a woman selling bananas. . . . It’s a new varietal from the Ministry’s rapid prototyping unit. Fast growing, resistant to makmak mites with their tiny black eggs that sicken banana flowers before they can hope to grow” (Bacigalupi 121). In this particular excerpt we are introduced to one of the many problems in a world touched by such environmental destruction. There is an urgent need to engineer food prototypes to avoid the fast growing diseases that are responsible for stopping the growth of natural food not humans. In The Windup Girl, food and plant destruction topics are reoccurring which draws attention away from human interests. For example, Bacigalupi writes:

While rain forests were considered a domesticated land of plants and food as well as a place of beauty, there are some changes today. The world has viewed rain forests in Africa, India, and the Amazon as an immaculate haven, to the point where human impact is nearly imaginary. This recognition wobbled through time, despite some statements saying that humans certainly affected some parts of the said nature haven. Unfortunately, this is true for what once was a significance in plant domestication is in serious need for preservation of the environment and the forests. All rain forests play an important role and a long process on the cultivation of plants, which include cacao, hot pepper, pineapple, sweet potato, and tobacco. The reason for the arduous process is because natural selection associates to human selection to seek the improvements that increase the advantages to human populations and handling domesticated terrains.

The Agricultural Revolution will be forever known in history as the revolution that saved the human population from famine and complete extinction. Before the revolution had started, the people of the villages had no connections to the outside world leaving them with no options of trade, getting food and no new technology to help them plow the fields. The plowing method that was currently being used was no better because a- it was not suitable for the wetter soil and b- it put strain on the Oxen by putting the yoke harness on their neck instead of their chest.The two field system in a way kept the population from growing due to no rotation of crops and having two different fields being used for different reasons.

In order to tackle all these issues in the cocoa sector, we should establish and run different codependent strategies simultaneously. I propose that in order to establish a better distribution of income, the governments of cocoa producing countries should establish a minimum sale price for cocoa. Additionally, they should establish penalties for corporations who buy cocoa that has been involved in child labor. To achieve this, it is essential to encourage and reward the formation of cocoa cooperatives, so farmers can increase their negotiation power as suppliers of raw material. This will help them sell their product at a better price and keep them from resorting to child labor in order to produce competitive cocoa. Lastly, an independent monitoring system must be created and managed by local

Banana is unique in that it releases a large amount of ethylene. If banana is paired with other fruits still unripe it will help other fruit mature quicker. To prove this theory I conducted

This report details several international management problems that Chiquita has been faced with over the past two decades. Many of these problems are to do with the company’s previously poor image when it came to Corporate and Social responsibility. Over the years Chiquita faced many accusations about the conditions workers were faced with at many of their facilities in Latin America and have also had their environmental policies questioned many times in the press. The company has made great strides in recent years in improving their public image with regards to corporate and social responsibility. In particular Chiquita’s commitment to the Better Bananas Project has helped improve their public image along with the

Chiquita Brands international was founded in 1899 after the merger of United Fruit Company and the Boston Fruit Company. As bananas be came more of a staple in every home so do Chiquita Bananas. Bananas are know to mainly grown in tropical places like Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Chiquita decided to have operations out of Colombia. During this time there was turmoil in Colombia and different terror groups form “against the government” & other wealthy people in the country. Some of these groups settled in the areas where Chiquita had facilities.