Why bananas could be gone by 2013


Bananas, more of which are eaten in terms of volume than rice or potatoes, have a cancer: a fungus called Panama Disease, it turns bananas brick-red and inedible. There is no cure. They all die as it spreads, and it spreads quickly. In just five years’ time but possibly 10 to 30 years if we’re lucky, if that’s the word, the yellow fruit will not exist. Now that’s a food crisis to make you sit up and take notice.

Bananas didn’t naturally evolve in the form with which we are all familiar, but were deliberately created. Until 150 years ago, some were sweet, others sour. They were green or purple or yellow. A corporation called United Fruit took one type and mass produced it on huge plantations, standardising and shipping it on refrigerated boats across the world. United Fruit built a huge monoculture of bananas, which meant a disease could spread like wildfire. A monoculture is like a party in a phone box for bacteria and viruses.

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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

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