The banana republics? The monoculture? The fact the ones in supermarket taste bland and it costs and arm and leg if you want one that tastes good?
Take your pick
The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe are heavily contaminated with chlordecone,[19] following years of its massive and unrestricted use on banana plantations: primarily against Cosmopolites sordidus.[20][21] Despite a 1990 ban on the substance in mainland France, the economically powerful banana planters lobbied intensively to obtain a waiver to keep using Kepone until 1993. They argued that no alternative pesticide was available, which has since been disputed. After the 1993 ban, the banana planters were discreetly granted derogations to use their remaining stocks, and a 2005 report prepared by the French National Assembly states that after the 1993 ban was imposed, the chemical was illegally imported to the islands under the name Curlone, and continued to be used for many years.[9] Since 2003, local authorities in the two islands have restricted the cultivation of various food crops because the soil is badly contaminated by chlordecone. A 2018 large-scale study by the French public health agency, Santé publique France, shows that 95% of the inhabitants of Guadeloupe and 92% of those of Martinique are contaminated by the chemical.[22] Guadeloupe has one of the highest prostate cancer diagnosis rates in the world.[23]
If you know how to read french, there is this comic book from Jessica Oublié, this is really well documented and sadly amazing to read, there are lots of french colonization implications in this story, obviously. The other comic about caribbean colonization by Jessica Oublié is also very impressive work.
And yet supermarkets wrap them in plastic on a polystyrene tray........
That’s counterproductive in terms of shelf life, and just plain gross. If your market does this, vote with your wallet and go somewhere else.
We are one minor mutation of a common banana disease away from having to get an entirely new kind of banana, and frankly we are not prepared for that.
Bad thing: banana Republic. Other than that... 100% legit.
The Cavendish banana is a monoculture that your grandkids will never know, the same way that you’ve (very probably) never had a Gros Michel.
Choose one.
Fun fact: The banana was actually a significant part of the industrial revolution. This was because coal miners could eat it without needing to wash their hands.
What's with the weird censoring of the post metadata? Do we not want to credit the original poster for some reason?
High glycemic index. Has to be imported from tropical to non-tropical regions. Cavendish variety, pictured above is susceptible to Fusarium wilt aka Panama disease
The massive amounts of pesticides they spray on the banana plantations is pretty bad.
Look up the history of the banana trade.
What do you mean zero cleanup? Now I have to carry around a banana peel all day. All hail apples (yes, I eat the core).
Banana smell is so powerful if you leave a banana in the fridge over night any unprotected food will taste like a banana
They tend to go extinct every so often and need a different variety to replace them.
I've got 2 bad things
The included wrapper isn't very rigid and can split and mash around. I've had several bananas turn to paste if they are forgotten about in a backpack or work their way to the bottom and end up crushed by other items.
Fruit flies.
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