Huffington Post | Why Bananas are a Parable For Our Times
Below the headlines about rocketing food prices and rocking governments, there lays a largely unnoticed fact: bananas are dying. The foodstuff, more heavily consumed even than rice or potatoes, has its own form of cancer. It is a fungus called Panama Disease, and it turns bananas brick-red and inedible. There is no cure. They all die as it spreads, and it spreads quickly. Soon - in five, 10 or 30 years - the yellow creamy fruit as we know it will not exist. The story of how the banana rose and fell can be seen a strange parable about the corporations that increasingly dominate the world - and where they are leading us.
There is no cure. They all die as it spreads, and it spreads quickly. Soon - in five, 10 or 30 years - the yellow creamy fruit as we know it will not exist. The story of how the banana rose and fell can be seen a strange parable about the corporations that increasingly dominate the world - and where they are leading us.
Beats me.
:-)
If the cancer attacks something that is a commonality - what makes a banana a banana instead of a kumquat - we're screwed.
If genetic diversity provides protection multi-cultivar in a diverse agronomic environment could provide a way forward.
But as I said, I don't know.
European Tribune - Peak Bananas?
So Gaia wins? Not so simple. As Hari tells us Until 150 [years] ago, a vast array of bananas grew in the world's jungles and they were invariably consumed nearby. Some were sweet; some were sour. They were green or purple or yellow. That biodiversity is now under threat because the monoculture of the marketable sweet yellow banana has provided for the proliferation of an unstoppable pathogen. Some varieties will resist, others will not. And foodwise, 85% of the world's banana production is locally consumed. The banana is also allied to the plantain, a staple in a number of parts of the world, also susceptible to Panama Disease.
DJNozem (whozat?) on bad Europeans who don't understand they need GMO monocultures so as to go on getting that GREAT creamy-smooth sweet yellow flavor experience.
By Dan Koeppel, author of a book on the question, an NYT piece: Yes, We Have No Bananas.
Banana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In cultivated varieties, the seeds have degenerated nearly to non-existence; their remnants are tiny black specks in the interior of the fruit.
and
While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, triploid (and thus seedless) cultivars have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots of the plant. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time; a larger one for fruiting immediately and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" that will produce fruit in 6-8 months time. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates. Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. Lacking seeds, another form of propagation is required. This normally involves removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm).
While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, triploid (and thus seedless) cultivars have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots of the plant. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time; a larger one for fruiting immediately and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" that will produce fruit in 6-8 months time. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates.
Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, which makes them sterile and unable to produce viable seeds. Lacking seeds, another form of propagation is required. This normally involves removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm).
Bananas are not a tree but an herb.
An herb? Huh? That's unexpected. By me. (a total ignoramus re: Bananas)
[Is there a Banana Maven in the house?]
I just assumed from the common use of "banana tree" to describe it the banana plant was ... a tree. ;-)
[Note of epistemological clarity: will entire Universe kindly quit mucking around with the sloppy use of adjectives and nouns? It's very confusing. KTHXBAI]
LOL.
But we didn't smoke a whole bunch.
