Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Is there a problem with bananas?

I just don't buy bananas - they are so non-local a...

2009-07-18T09:29:29.777-07:00

I just don't buy bananas - they are so non-local and so many problems that it is just not even a question.

When I lived in the south, I was able to get bananas growing in backyards - and visiting Kauai or Mexico, I'll eat bananas grown there.

Eating tree ripened bananas is completely different from what we get in stores so that I don't even bother eating bananas anymore at all.

I LOVE bananas and eat them often. I, however, am ...

2009-07-10T13:26:09.074-07:00

I LOVE bananas and eat them often. I, however, am lucky and live on an island with a variety of different types of bananas just in my back yard. I can't ever get through them all. I end up donating a bunch to the Butterfly Farm for the rainforest butterflies. I am a bit spoiledin that regard. However, I haven't had fresh raspberries in over a year. We just can't seem to grow them here and they are imported from REEEALLLY far.

Marissa - You can buy GROW bananas at any Town and...

2009-07-01T09:39:19.108-07:00

Marissa - You can buy GROW bananas at any Town and Country Market (Greenwood, Ballard and Bainbridge).

Where do you get your GROW Bananas? I am a big ban...

2009-07-01T08:46:05.268-07:00

Where do you get your GROW Bananas? I am a big banana eater (heh) and live in the Seattle area so I assume they are around here somewhere.

I want to elaborate on Heather's comment. I did N...

2009-06-29T14:35:17.543-07:00

I want to elaborate on Heather's comment. I did NOT read that book, but listened to a half hour of Fresh Air with the author of "Banana..." I totally agree with you, but here's a spin--I buy bananas when they are nearly completely unacceptable to eat traditionally. At this point, they are about $2 for a giant box, and you need to immediately freeze them for muffins later on, which I do, and I buy a box about once a year. I like bananas, but I usually buy them this way because I want to eat them, and feel like I'm buying something that would be thrown out in a day anyway. What does anyone think of that? I've fought with myself about this for a while. Thanks! Love the blog!

After reading "Banana: the fate of the fruit that ...

2009-06-29T13:14:04.917-07:00

After reading "Banana: the fate of the fruit that changed the world" by Dan Koeppel about a year ago, I no longer have the desire to eat them. It opened my eyes so much to the painful process that made bananas so commonplace and cheap in countries like the US (where they can't really be grown on a large scale). The history of companies like United Fruit (Chiquita) and Dole is APPALLING.

And, there's no use getting attached to the Cavendish anyway- it will probably get wiped out by a blight or fungus just like the previously popular banana species Gros Michel, destroying arable land and killing (or sterilizing) workers with pesticide toxicity in the process. It's happened before...

Sorry to be so blunt. The banana is a fruit with a really complicated back-story and an even more complicated future. I think the world would be a better place if Americans consumed fewer bananas. I like them, but my conscience wins this round.

I don't really eat bananas anymore. I grew up on ...

2009-06-29T11:38:24.441-07:00

I don't really eat bananas anymore. I grew up on the bay in southeast Houston, where bananas grow like weeds. I think my mom got a starter plant from a seed sharing group. Bananas are nearly impossible to get rid of once they start growing, so I think she ended up regretting ever planting it. So, needless to say, we had plenty of very local bananas growing up. Now I don't really like store-bought bananas after having fresh ones for so long. They just taste so different. When I do buy them, I buy Chiquita or Dole organic, but they taste blah for sure.

We gave them up. I can't find local ones here in S...

2009-06-29T10:12:39.897-07:00

We gave them up. I can't find local ones here in San Diego. However, we eat them when offered at potlucks and the like where they're organic.

I am envious of all you people who have Whole Food...

2009-06-28T11:52:03.005-07:00

I am envious of all you people who have Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joe's, etc. We have good local Farmer's Markets and a Food Co-op, but no grocery store that I have ever seen carries organic produce here in OKC. The stores have organic canned items, but not produce. Actually, Akins carries some, if you want to pay $13 a pound for wilted broccoli. No, I'm not kidding.

So...after my whining...I do eat bananas, and not organic fair trade ones. Just industrial full-of-cruelty bananas.

I don't eat bananas very often at all... I've thou...

2009-06-28T11:41:56.641-07:00

I don't eat bananas very often at all... I've thought about the fact that they're not local but hadn't thought about how the workers are treated. I don't know why not, it only makes sense considering the region that they come from. I'll check out the organic bananas next time I'm at the co-op.

I've never seen fair trade bananas not even at our...

2009-06-28T07:56:59.632-07:00

I've never seen fair trade bananas not even at our local Whole Foods. My man is the big banana eater -- we buy a bunch a week through the winter, 90% are organic from Wegman's too, but occasionally my man goes for the deal elsewhere.

I love bananas but they are one thing I tend not t...

2009-06-28T02:33:51.011-07:00

I love bananas but they are one thing I tend not to buy because of the distances involved. For a while when I first started thinking about it I just switched to getting organic when I could. Definitely a taste difference. But large scale organic isn't really what I wanted and as I got more interested in and informed about local (rather than just organic) I decided to only buy them as a special treat if I find some fair trade ones. I just got some yesterday in the fair trade shop near me and the last time I bought them was the end of January so it's really not all that often. They're 50c (euro cent that is - about 70 of your cents) each so not cheap but not too expensive really considering how much I enjoy them.

Wow... just today I was thinking about this same i...

2009-06-27T21:27:43.394-07:00

Wow... just today I was thinking about this same issue (before I read your post). I was planning on having a banana from work with my lunch, and I decided not to, since 1) they're not organic, 2) they're no where near local, and 3) I really didn't NEED to have a banana...

Both my husband and I LOVE bananas... I try to buy organic ones (our co-op sells GROW), but hubby likes his deals - he occasionally finds 5 lbs for a dollar or so at the grocery outlet for non-fair/organic bananas... and they do taste, um... more plain than organics - which, to me, taste sweeter.

We've mostly given them up (for all the reasons th...

2009-06-27T19:22:39.340-07:00

We've mostly given them up (for all the reasons that you suggested), but will buy one or two occasionally for eating before an athletic event (for the potassium, etc)

I personally find bananas revolting (except in ban...

2009-06-27T08:24:04.638-07:00

I personally find bananas revolting (except in banana bread), but my boyfriend likes them. We buy conventional bananas, and whatever he doesn't eat goes into the freezer until I feel like making bread w/ them.

my husband is from true banana country (tropical M...

2009-06-27T08:23:09.334-07:00

my husband is from true banana country (tropical Mexico) and grew up eating a variety of bananas of which we northlanders can only dream. He complains bitterly (even after twelve years of living here) about the blandness and monotony of the cavendish banana (the variety we eat here) but he simply can't give them up anyway. We go through a lot of bananas, and I buy organic.

We eat a lot of bananas. I like them, the kids lik...

2009-06-27T08:07:02.648-07:00

We eat a lot of bananas. I like them, the kids like them, my husband likes them. They are one of the imported foods I would have a really hard time giving up, and I feel a little bit guilty about that.

I do always choose organic bananas. I have bought GROW bananas in the past, but my preferred grocery store doesn't seem to carry them right now. It's probably time to find someplace that does.

I gave up bananas since I never really liked them....

2009-06-27T07:27:57.817-07:00

I gave up bananas since I never really liked them. They taste like mushy blah to me. But then again, I was raised with the ability to walk outside and pick apples, peaches, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... And pop them right off the tree/bush/vine, etc. Bananas were always so foreign.

The only thing I do miss is banana bread, but I've replaced it with applesauce bread and pumpkin bread, so I don't miss it that much. I'm pretty much a fruit snob :)

In my more eco-nazi days, we gave up bananasa comp...

2009-06-27T07:27:47.233-07:00

In my more eco-nazi days, we gave up bananasa completely. Now we get them from time to time from the store. Always the organic. I don't think we have the GROW ones around here but I'll keep my eyes open.

I will brag a bit here, though. One of the advantages (believe me, with the budget cuts, there aren't many these days) to living in California, is the produce. We have someone who sells bananas at our local farmers market. Mind you, she is not within our 100 mile radius or even our 200 mile radius. She is about 330 miles away and, for the taste of some good banana bread, well, that's just fine by me and my conscience.

I am very fortunate that the organic bananas at my...

2009-06-27T06:49:36.912-07:00

I am very fortunate that the organic bananas at my store (Wegmans) are very reasonably priced - $.69 a pound.

Because of their thick skin which protected the fruit inside from a good deal of the pesticides, I used to not buy organic bananas because I chose to spend my money on other organics.

But after reading about the horrible working conditions and the child labor that many traditional banana plantations employ - I switched to organic only for ethical reasons.

Did you know that if you buy Dole organic bananas, you can trace the banana back to its grower. I wrote about the traceability program on Mother Nature Network a while back

http://www.mnn.com/food/farms-gardens/blogs/traceability-and-my-banana

I gave them up (after eating one a day for the bet...

2009-06-27T04:50:15.958-07:00

I gave them up (after eating one a day for the better part of my life), but I do miss them - more so in the winter when local fruit means only grapefruit and oranges. Yummy, I know, but after 4 months of them, I'm dying for something different - like a banana.

I love bananas and after reading Kingsolver's Anim...

2009-06-27T04:41:25.660-07:00

I love bananas and after reading Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, mineral question myself every time buy them...

It doesn't help that the only brand of organic ones at my store are Dole and come wrapped in plastic!!

We eat a ton of bananas in our house. Me, not so m...

2009-06-27T02:44:28.973-07:00

We eat a ton of bananas in our house. Me, not so much, but the man, child and baby, ALL THE TIME. And, well, I usually grab whatever is there. I had been making an effort to buy organic at Trader Joe's, but their bananas, for whatever reason, really suck. They always went bad before ever ripening, so I stopped. The Fair Trade ones at Whole Foods seem pretty good, but I hate giving any more business to that store than i have to.

I personally don’t eat or like bananas. My men do,...

2009-06-27T01:15:36.868-07:00

I personally don’t eat or like bananas. My men do, however. When I buy Dole organic or non-organic, the bananas don’t always get eaten. Chiquita brand ones usually are all consumed. I have heard that even the Chiquita organic ones don’t taste all that great. Would be interesting to do a blind taste test with folks who actually like to eat them...