Plantains
Fruit
Food Politics
Food Technology
Food and Climate Change

In the News . . .

• The forgotten foods that can revolutionise your diet -- BBCReel (04 February 2021)
  
  
• It’s a Banana. It’s Art. And Now It’s the Guggenheim’s Problem -- The New York Times (18 September 2020)
  
  
• Where bananas are considered sacred -- BBCtravel (19 November 2020)
  
  
• The Nigella effect: are banana skins about to become a must-eat ingredient? -- The Guardian (10 November 2020)
  
  
• The dark history of bananas -- John Soluri (02 November 2020)
  
  
• A (Grudging) Defense of the $120,000 Banana -- The New York Times (18 September 2020)
  
  
• A race to save bananas from extinction: Wageningen and KeyGene join fight against Panama disease -- FOODnavigator (08 September 2020)
  
  
• New Findings Dispel the View That Australia’s First Peoples Were ‘Only Hunter Gatherers’ -- HERITAGE DAILY (13 August 2020)
  
  
• Indigenous Australians 'farmed bananas 2,000 years ago' -- BBCNews (12 August 2020)
  
  
• New Papua New Guinea research solves archaeological mysteries -- Phys.Org (04 June 2020)
  
  
• Art Basel: Maurizio Cattelan's $120,000 banana eaten by artist -- BBCNews (08 December 2019)
  
  
• Banana artwork that fetched $120,000 is eaten by 'hungry' artist -- The Guardian (07 December 2019)
  
  
• Court of a-peel: nasty split over banana costume leads to legal monkey business -- The Guardian (01 August 2019)
  
  
• Is fair trade finished? -- The Guardian (23 July 2019)
  
  
• Welcome to the Jungle: Bananas May Be Iceland's Next Big Thing -- Bloomberg (05 May 2019)
  
  
• Polish protest after gallery removes suggestive banana art -- BBCNews (29 April 2019)
  
  
• Why Maui does banana bread best -- BBCtravel (21 April 2020)
  
  
• First Dutch bananas could help tackle worldwide fungal threat -- The Guardian (14 December 2018)
  
  
• A birthday candle in a banana: why fruit is by far the most offensive vegan dessert -- The Guardian (15 December 2019)
  
  
• This Is the Correct Way to Sell Bananas -- FOOD & WINE (07 August 2018)
  
  
• Science’s search for a super banana -- The Guardian (05 August 2018)
  
  
• Yes! We have no bananas: Why the song may come true again -- BBCNews (05 July 2018)
  
  
• What Trump Should Learn From the ‘Banana War’ -- The New York Times (22 June 2018)
  
  
• Colombia: no guns, no drugs, no atrocities, no rape, no murder. Just bananas… -- The Guardian (25 February 2018)
  
  
• A-peeling? Japanese farmers invent edible banana skin -- The Guardian (21 February 2018)
  
  
• Battling to save the world's bananas -- BBCNews (01 February 2018)
  
  
• The Surprising Science Behind the World's Most Popular Fruit -- National Geobraphic (24 October 2017)
  
  
• The Secret Life of the City Banana -- The New York Times (04 August 2017)
  
  
• Back Story, The New York Times, Morning Briefing, Monday, November 28, 2016

Back Story

That banana you might be having for breakfast is probably a Cavendish, the most widely available variety of one of the world’s most popular fruits.

But a deadly fungus is on the march, and the Cavendish’s lack of genetic diversity is raising fears of a possible “bananapocalypse.”

The killer fungus, a strain of Panama Disease called Tropical Race 4, has spread to China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Northern Territory of Australia, and it has recently been found in Africa and the Middle East.

With its yellow peel and seedless fruit, the Cavendish makes up 95 percent of bananas sold worldwide, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The previous dominant variety, the Gros Michel, was decimated by another form of the fungus in the 1950s. Growers turned to the Cavendish, whose strength lies more in disease resistance than flavor. (One expert said it “had been considered something close to junk.”)

The Cavendish is thought to have arrived in England in the 1800s from Mauritius, taking its name from the family in whose greenhouse it was cultivated. Missionaries eventually carried it to the Pacific islands.

One scientist sees a silver lining in newly urgent efforts to save the seeds from wild bananas. “Race 4 is a threat,” he says, “but it’s also an opportunity to start growing more diversity.”

Remy Tumin contributed reporting.

• Can Science Save the Banana? -- The Crux, Discover (24 Octoer 2016)
  
  
• The Surprising History of Bananas in Under 2 Minutes -- National Geographic (08 August 2016)
  
  
• The Miracle of the Modern Banana -- National Geographic (08 August 2016)
  
  
• Bananas facing a bleak future as staple African crops decline -- TheGuardian (07 March 2016)
  
  
• Climate Deadline Looms for African Food Crops -- BBC News (07 March 2016)
  
  
• The imminent death of the Cavendish banana and why it affects us all -- BBCNews (24 January 2016)
  
  
• Can eating more than six bananas at once kill you? -- BBCNews (12 September 2015)
  
  
• Slippery banana study wins Ig Nobel -- BBCNews (18 September 2014)
  
  
• The secrets of fake flavours -- BBC (29 August 2014)
  
  
• Bananas could be future staple -- BBC News (30 October 2012)
  
  
• Can an African "Green Revolution" Help Feed the World? -- Reuters (02 May 2012)
  
  

From
The Scout Report
25 March 2010
Volume 16, Number 12

In California, a rather unique museum looks for a new home

In California, the Banana Museum Has Lost Its Appeal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704534904575131660097881550.html

The Saddest, Scariest Story About a Dying Banana Museum Ever
http://gawker.com/5499699/the-saddest-scariest-story-about-a-dying-banana-museum-ever

Bananas: A Storied Fruit With An Uncertain Future [Real Player]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19097412

The Banana Club Museum
http://www.bananaclub.com/InsideMuseum.htm

National Apple Museum
http://www.nationalapplemuseum.com/

All Recipes: Banana
http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Fruits-and-Vegetables/Fruits/Bananas/Main.aspx

Ken Bannister is a man in love with bananas. Over the past four decades he has managed to amass more than 17,000 banana-focused items, and he is also the founder of the International Banana Club and Museum in Hesperia, California. Browsing around the Museum's headquarters, visitors might catch a glimpse of a gold-sequined "Michael Jackson banana", a banana beach mat, and many banana salt-and-pepper shaker sets. These waves and crescendos of yellow are looking for a new home these days, as the Hesperia Recreation & Parks District informed Bannister in January that his collection (which is located in a District building) would need to relocate. Now, Bannister is attempting to take his bananas on the road, but he is having little luck as of late. He placed the entire collection up for auction on eBay in February for a "bargain price" of $45000. There were no takers, even after Bannister reduced the price several times. Interested parties might want to make a quick trip to Hesperia, or if they miss out, there's always the National Apple Museum in Biglerville, Pennsylvania. [KMG]

The first link will take visitors to a Wall Street Journal article from this Tuesday on the current state of the Banana Museum, complete with a slideshow of images. The second link leads to another news piece from Gawker about the Museum. Moving on, the third link will take users to a fascinating interview from NPR's Fresh Air program that profiles Dan Koeppel, author of "Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World". The fourth link leads to the official homepage of the Banana Museum. For those looking for an excuse for a road trip, the fifth link leads to the homepage of the National Apple Museum. The site contains a cornucopia of material on apples, fruit growers in the area, and nearby lodging and dining options. The final link leads to a wide-ranging selection of banana-themed recipes from the All Recipes site. There are many variations on banana bread, banana pancakes, and the lesser-known chocolate banana cream pie.

• Banana -- All Recipes
  
  
• The Banana Club Museum
  
  
• BananaLink
  
  
• Bananas! (the movie)
  
  
• Banana [Research & Impact: Areas of Research] -- Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
  
  
• Bananas Don't Grow on Trees, Andreas Kamphaug (Director, 22:09) (14 December 2011)
  In this short film Dominican and Haitian residents of a banana-growing community near the Dominican-Haitian border talk about their work in the surrounding banana plantations and discuss everyday life in the small batey.
  
  
• Banana Republic: The United Fruit Company
  
  
• Cavendish banana -- Wikipedia
  
  
  • Musa cavendishii
  • William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire
  • Koeppel, Dan. "Yes, We Will Have No Bananas" (Editorial) -- New York Times (18 June 2008)
    
    
• Chiquita
  • corporation
• timeline
  
  
• Chiquita Brands International -- Wikipedia
  
  
• Del Monte Foods
  
  
• Dole Food Company -- Wikipedia
  
  
• Fyffes
  • Fyffes Bananas
    
    
• Fyffes -- Wikipedia
  
  
• Honduras Foundation for Agricultural Research -- Wikipedia
  (Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola or FHIA)
  
  
• Koeppel, Dan. Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. NY: Penguin Hudson, 2008.
  
  
  • Bananas: A Storied Fruit With An Uncertain Future [an interview with Dan Koeppel] -- NPR (18 February 2008)
    



 

• Koeppel, Dan. "Can This Fruit Be Saved?" -- Popsci.com (19 June 2008)
  
  
• Koeppel, Dan. "Yes, We Will Have No Bananas" (Editorial) -- New York Times (18 June 2008)
  
  
• Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, Division of Crop Biotechnics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
  
  
• Lawrence, Felicity. Eat Your Heart Out: Why the Food Business is Bad for the Planet and Your Health. London: Penguin Books, 2008.
  
  
• Lawrence, Felicity. Not on the Label: What Really Goes into The Food on Your Plate, Revised Edition. London: Penguin Books, 2013.
  
  
• National Banana Month -- Wikipedia
  
  
• Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2008.
  
  
• Q&A: The banana wars -- BBC News (15 December 2010)
  
  
• video: The Sad Story of the Banana: Dangers of Pesticide Abuse (DVD, 30 min, 2010)
  
  
• Timelines
  • Chronology -- United Fruit Historical Society
  • Dole Food Company
  • The food timeline
  • timeline -- Bananas Web
  • timeline -- Chiquita
    
    
• Timmerman, Kelsey. Where Am I Eating?: An Adventure Through the Global Food Economy with Discussion Questions and a Guide to Going "Glocal". Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2014.
  
  
• Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. A History of Food. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons/Blackwell 2009.
  
  
• Turback, Michael. The Banana Split Book: Everything There Is to Know About America's Greatest Dessert. Philadelphia, PA: Camino Books, 2004.
  
  
• United Fruit Company -- Wikipedia
  • "Our Complex History"
    
    
• United Fruit Historical Society
  • Chronology
    
    
• Urban Legends Reference Pages: Food (Banana Peal)
  
  
• "Yes! We Have No Bananas" -- Wikipedia

What are the black specks that are sometimes in the middle of bananas?

-- Marzee Denham, Florissant, Mo.
5 October 2008

They're seeds, which are often unnoticed when they're tiny. But if you plant one, it won't grow into a banana plant (which is actually a huge herb, not a tree, although it looks like one). Banana plants are sterile. New plants grow from shoots that come from the underground stem.

So why are there seeds? Several thousand years ago, humans crossed some inedible, wild banana plants. The result was a sterile hybrid that produced plentiful, fine food. Today, hundreds of varieties exist.