Banana Tropic


don't let your nanners get fucked up

I've been thinking quite a lot about bananas today. Most likely because I just finished peeling 200 lbs of them. Did I stutter? I said 200 lbs. (I freeze them and use them for smoothies at work, you see.) I've been thinking about how much American banana homogeny saddens me. Have you ever had a truly great banana? A banana that, after you took a bite of it, made you go, "OH FUCK! That's the best banana I've ever had!" I haven't. I've had bananas that I didn't like because they were over or under ripe, but I've never had a really delicious banana. I've had apples and blueberries and strawberries that made me fall to my knees in ecstasy. I've eaten peaches so fantastic that, if I didn't know better, would make me believe in god. But bananas? Not so much. I like them, but they're just bananas.

Here in the US we eat Cavendish bananas almost exclusively. You can thank Panama Disease and the United Fruit Company (now the evil Chiquta Corporation) for the shocking lack of variety in your supermarket's tropical fruit. There are hundreds of other varieties of banana deliciousness grown worldwide, but no one imports them. Cavendish bananas, like Red Delicious Apples (my apple arch enemy) are grown for durability and ease of transport only, not taste. I think that's sad really. I encourage you to write your congressman and demand better fruit importation.

I would really like to read Banana Cultures, by John Soluri, apparently the best book about bananas ever.
- posted by Mason @ 11:11 AM