The
banana. Possibly the humblest of fruits. So regular to us that we seldom think
about how this tropical product gets to our thoroughly un-tropical area. As it
turns out, the banana is actually an amazing representation of diffusion of a
product and globalization of consumption. To realize the full extent of the
banana’s global takeover, we must start 15,000 years ago in the tropical
forests of Papua New Guinea.
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| Native Banana |
The
banana that we know today is almost completely unrecognizable from its native
counterpart. The fruit that is now easily peeled, seedless, and sweet was
considerably less luxurious in its native form. In fact it was full of seeds
and the peel was fairly difficult to remove. However, the people of the Kuk
valley in current Papua New Guinea domesticated the fruit, slowly decreasing
the size of the seeds and increasing the amount of edible flesh. In fact, some
of the banana plant’s seeds were bred to be so small that the plant became
largely asexual. From this early start, the cultivators spread the plant
throughout the surrounding islands and eventually to mainland Asia and northern
Australia. In some cases, they seemed to simply plant the bananas and promptly
leave the area, only to rediscover the plant years later growing wild. Through this
process, the peoples of mainland Asia discovered, cultivated, and incorporated
the banana into their culture.
As time
progressed, more selective breeding of the banana took place in Asia and
eventually India. Some varieties were bred to eat, others to harvest fibers for
cloth, and still others to have large leaves. In this way, the banana became an
integral part of the culture of the Far East. As the Middle and Far East
started to trade more extensively, the banana kept moved farther west.
With the rise of Islam and the moors, the banana moved ever further and reached
Northern Africa and Spain around 1200 AD. The fruit was further popularized
here as more people came in contact with it, though few that lived outside the
banana’s growing areas could find it.
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| Ugandan Banana Plantation |
The age
of discovery brought the banana to its final destination, the Americas. As it
was a tropical plant, Spanish conquistadores brought bananas along in their
journeys. From here, banana plantations, whether run by slaves or communities,
popped up around the Caribbean and in South America. From this point, bananas
were grown as either a subsistence or a local sale crop in the Americas.
So the
banana is now known on every inhabited continent. What could be next? The
answer is slow but steady expansion. As the banana spread to every viable
growing location (tropical climates, hot and wet), the ability of people to
transport crops also grew. In this way, bananas became one of the most
internationally intertwined fruit, as many countries are growing them and even
more are consuming. Fast forward now to around the year 1900. There are
significant banana crops being grown in Australia, India, tropical Africa, and
many countries in Latin America. The world is now connected by many kinds of
transportation, making goods and information travel much more smoothly. There
is now such a thing as international competition in banana trade. When there is
a profit to be made, there is always a company that rises to the top. For
bananas, this company is United Fruit. The company flourished throughout the
next 70 years despite, or because of, the questionable business decisions it
made.
For
instance, United Fruit was a company largely responsible for producing
accurately named “Banana Republics,” countries that rely extremely heavily on
one export. United Fruit largely controlled a few of these countries including
Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica by establishing a trade monopoly. They then
had enough power and influence to basically control the internal politics of
the country to reflect the goals of the company. This led to numerous cases in
which the rights and needs of workers were being ignored by the large company
that controlled them.
As do
many companies that seem to be unstoppable, the opposite is true. After only 70
years in power, decline in profits, caused in part by Standard Fruit Company
(eventually Dole), United Fruits merged with another company. This merger would
eventually become Chiquita. Here begins a trade war between two multinational
corporations that will do anything to ensure uniform quality and low cost of
fruit. But neither is prepared for the challenges ahead.
So
remember near the beginning of the article when the indigenous Papua New
Guineans bred bananas to have such small seeds many became asexual? Good news
right? Wrong. This also makes the banana one of the most fragile fruits in
terms of susceptibility to pathogens. This is because through asexual
reproduction, all the banana plants (not trees as they are actually giant
herbs), share the exact same genetic material. If a pathogen finds its way to a
banana plant and the plant has no immunity, it is not just the plant that dies,
the disease will spread throughout the entire plantation, country, and (this
has happened before) world. In the 1950s, as the national corporations vied for
the best prices and growing locations, they were all struck with a banana virus
that spread quickly from country to country. In a matter of a decade, all farmers
were forced to change varieties of bananas as they were unable to stop the
virus. The new plant type had resistance to the virus but the fruit was not
nearly as good. Just think about that when you are eating your next banana. You
are eating the world’s second choice.
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| A real bummer. The fungus is everywhere. |
But
this problem does not stop there. The current type of bananas grown around the
world are being attacked by what is called Panama Disease, a deadly fungus. It
is devastating banana crops and threatening to wipe out the currently preferred
species of banana. More bad news, there is really no good backup species. When these
bananas are gone, we could have reached the end of commercial banana growing.
This
brings us to the impact of banana’s globalization. It has really done a lot to
change the world. Poor tropical countries around the world grow bananas as a
way to get into the international market, though they often endure terrible
working conditions and unfair business practices from large corporations when
doing so. Some countries rely so heavily on their export that the banana buying
companies have major influence in their governments, earning them the title of
a banana republic. Bananas have also helped alert the world to the problem of
monoculture in agriculture. When only one type of banana is grown and something
bad happens to that type, there is not an easy way to instantly switch all the
crops to another variety. An enormous economic collapse of that product usually
ensues, which is beneficial to no one. To combat this, plantation owners should
try to diversify crops to ensure that there is not a complete collapse in the
event of a world-wide banana disease.
Long story short, bananas
are a perfect example of globalization. They were once an
unpleasant little herb growing on a hot, wet, jungle-covered island. They were
domesticated, transported, artificially selected, diffused, and universally accepted into
cultures around the world. Despite their easy conquering of the continents,
they are in danger because of monoculture and a sneaky
little fungus by the name of Panama Disease. You honestly could have read
this paragraph and lived the rest of your life without regret. Just go. Eat a
banana and really try to enjoy it. You may not be able to for long.
Sources:
Before the terrified residents knew
it, they were dealing with a massive fire. Strong winds caused the fire to move
at perhaps 40 to 50 miles per hour and develop into a firestorm. The blaze reached five
miles wide and by some estimations, a mile high. Even the people on the other
side of the bay were not safe, as the firestorm jumped more than ten miles across
Green Bay. Even more terrifying were the fire tornadoes that developed during
the chaos. One whirled through the village of Peshtigo, flattening and
incinerating everything in its path. The residents of another town close to
Peshtigo tried to flee, however they either burned to death while running or
boiled as they tried to shelter in a small river.
A fire of this magnitude is unlikely
to happen again in the United States. The ability to fight fires in planes and
the practice of controlled burns to prevent larger fires have made conditions
exponentially safer. In addition, better communication systems and faster response
before and after wildfires can save many of those caught in these dangerous
situations.
