All about BANANAS!
The banana as we know it is in danger. It’s slated to be extinct in 5 years unless scientists can figure out another way to engineer it to safety. And we’ve been here before. North Americans and Europeans used to eat a totally different (and apparently tastier) banana called the Gros Michel (known affectionately as Big Mike) until a fungus wiped them all out in the early 1960′s.
There are 1,200 varieties of bananas, but for the past 50 years bananas have meant just three things to people in the USA,Canada and Europe: yellow, sweet, and seedless. And you may not know this (I certainly didn’t) but it’s called the Cavendish.
The friendly, reproductively challenged Cavendish Bananas
Bananas are one of the first foods to be cultivated (we started growing and breeding bananas 15,000 years ago) and we love this fruit. We bred it to be as perfect as we can get it. It’s seedless, it’s sweet, and it never changes. And there in lies the problem :
“That sameness is the banana’s paradox. After 15,000 years of human cultivation, the banana is too perfect, lacking the genetic diversity that is key to species health. What can ail one banana can ail all. A fungus or bacterial disease that infects one plantation could march around the globe and destroy millions of bunches, leaving supermarket shelves empty.”- popsci.com
We’ve bred these bananas to always be the same, never evolving. Our Cavendish bananas don’t and can’t reproduce on their own, they don’t even have seeds. Which I had never even thought about until this conversation with Catie (in the video above). I’ve been eating bananas my whole life and I’ve never seen a seed. I just took it for granted that they must have seeds somewhere else, or they must naturally reproduce in some other way. It never occurred to me that they were engineered and produced. That they wouldn’t be able to exist in nature without us.
To be clear, I’m not against the traditional methods of hybridization. I really enjoy eating macoun apples, seedless watermelons, and navel oranges. But it’s the monoculture of our banana that is concerning to me. We are dependent upon one type of banana that can’t save itself. ”Biotech is literally the only way to save the Cavendish, which, because it is 100 percent seedless, can’t be improved on by traditional hybridization methods.” - popsci.com And the crazy thing is that we don’t have to be dependent upon the Cavendish! There are 1,200 other varieties out there we could try. There are 1,197 bananas out there that I have never tasted (I’ve had the Cavendish, plantains, and some tiny red ones). And that to me, is a problem. I want to know what it’s like to eat around a banana seed. I want to see the crazy colors, feel the different thicknesses of the banana skin. I want to know what these fruits taste like!
So, does this change how I see the bananas in my grocery store? Yes it does. I’m just not sure yet how.
So, should we let the Cavendish go the way of the Gros Michel? Should we fight it and genetically engineer a solution? Should we have more types of bananas available? Should we all get used to eating bananas with seeds? Does this change how you feel about bananas? What’s the answer? Anyone know? Please tell me what you think in the comments!
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Check out these great articles on bananas. I learned a lot from these two articles:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-06/can-fruit-be-saved and http://www.freshfoodcentral.com/view_feature.aspx?featureid=7
Filed in: Food Facts & Tips
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Lillian makes other people's allergy friendly (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, cane sugar-free, & soy-free (at the very least)) recipes for the very first time on camera.Subscribe
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Swoon! You did a Banana post! Isn’t it Fascinating?!?! Unlike any other fruit we encounter. And a little creepy to think that the golden pile of cheap deliciousness might one day disappear from the produce section.
I know! Thanks for the tip Eden! You’re the best.
Lillian,
I’m quizzing you. =) Do you know about the gluten-free banana flour that’s about to hit the store shelves? Obviously high carb, but it could be an interesting addition to a high protein flour mix. We should do some experimenting.
Interesting video. What kind of pancakes were those? I want one (several). =)
Peace, love, and AP classes! Smart girls rule!
Melissa
The pancakes are coconut flour. The episode will be up soon. I hadn’t heard about the banana flour, I guess I might try it, but I’m not a huge fan of high carb stuff. AP classes are amazing, Smart girls DO rule!
Thanks Melissa!
Thanks for the banana post. I’ve been curious about bananas and what sort of genetic modification humans have done to them over the years, but never bothered to investigate. Lazy!
Anyway, the reason for my curiosity is that all my life my favorite sandwich was a toasted peanut butter, sliced banana, and honey masterpiece my mother would make me. A sandwich worthy of Elvis.
Your post has somewhat explained a horrible injustice that has befallen me. Bananas have been making me sick since I hit my mid 20s.
I was born in the 60s. Ate bananas as a kid and teen and never had an issue. Around 23/24 years old they started making me very sick to my stomach. Can’t eat them now. I miss my Elvis sandwich.
I think that somehow the “banana scientists” have altered the banana in such a way that I can no longer tolerate them.
I know five other people who have experienced this same thing. Ate them all their lives and then suddenly bananas started giving them sick tummies.
Thanks for sharing this
You’re welcome!
Hi Lillian,
Wow – how’s this for some “food for thought.” Never knew about the banana history. Thanks for sharing. Sending to my husband. I didn’t eat bananas much before I met him. Believe it or not, he eats one every single day. I’m sure he would find this incredibly interesting.
Sweet! Thanks Amber!
Whoa. This blows my mind! I know there are other reasons to be concerned about bananas (unethical treatment of banana workers & farmers), but I had NO idea that there are 1200 varieties out there. Sheesh. Why, oh why, are we sticking to just one type? Seriously, something’s wrong here. As a lover of variety, this has definitely piqued my interest. Thanks for the random facts, Lil. Gets my brain a churnin’.
Yeah, 1,200 varieties. I’m glad it blew your mind, it blew my mind as well.
Wow, fascinating and disturbing info, Lillian! I seriously had no idea about any of this data.
We love bananas at our house. Mr. GFE likes his green or just past that and I like mine at perfect ripeness for eating and well beyond that for baking. One can do amazing things with bananas in baking, even use them as egg substitutes. Thanks for the post, off to share. I hope we figure out some solutions …
xo,
Shirley
Thanks so much Shirley! It seems like there aren’t any solutions outside of genetic modification. But with all the other bananas out there, I think we’ll be okay.
Wow. Scary. Interesting. Thank you. I don’t know how til feel about all of this exactly, but I do love bananas. Apart from the commercial one, I have had small bananas in Southern India and the Philippines. The Indian ones tasted fairly similar to “ours”, but the ones in the Philippines literally tasted like wild strawberries! One of the best things I have eaten in my (at that point rather short) life.
Wild strawberries??? Oh. My. Goodness. That sounds incredible. You’ve eaten so many bananas! I’m super jealous.
Great article but i believe that genetically engineered bananas are NOT the solution!! Monsanto’s GMO Franken-food has been proven by its own scientists that it terrifyingly alters it’s own and our DNA in ways we don’t even understand yet. GMO’s destroy natural ecosystems, promote unbelievably heavy pesticide use which (like antibiotics) have caused herbicide-resistant “super weeds”, and they contaminate other unintended varieties of plants. I worked on a papaya and banana farm in Hawai and like you said, there are plenty of banana varieties out there – including my favorite, the Apple Banana. We as consumers just need to demand more diverse types of bananas from our markets. I would love to see more varieties of bananas in my local market, and fully agree with you that monocultures are a dangerous gamble. I personally would rather see our common Cavendish banana go the way of the Dodo than put more of our food in the hands of a petrochemical company like Monsanto.
The Apple Banana? That sounds amazing! I’m with you. I would love to see more diverse types of bananas in the store. There are so many I want to eat!
I love, no make that I NEED bananas. Dang, that sucks. I hope this doesn’t happen. Yeah, monoculture has been a HUGE issue.