Bananas

While widely perceived as a tree, the banana plant is a perennial herb which grows on rhizomes (Banana Link). It takes 9-12 months from a bulb being planted to a banana being produced. In Panama, bananas are grown year-round, maximizing their export value to producers. The plants need a minimum of 78 inches of rain in a season to be successful. Some Panama farmers will irrigate their fields, depending on their geographic location. The plants are often propped or tied up as they grow to counter the weight of the fruits as some bunches can be too heavy for the stalk. Many crops are often sprayed with pesticides, while many producers choose to cover the fruits with polyethylene bags to protect them from birds, insects, and adverse weather conditions instead.

Banana bunches are harvested by hand while still green (Banana Link). Bruised or damaged fruits or those which don’t meet the required measurements are sold at local markets, while only the most aesthetically pleasing are packaged for export. After harvest, the bananas are cleaned, boxed, and shipped in reefers to their final destination where they will be offered to consumers on the shelf.

In the early 1900’s, before many of the large production companies known today were established, a mass production company named “United Brands” invested money into Panama for banana production (Meditz & Hanratty, 1987). The corporation constructed storage facilities, processing plants and railroads for the purpose of banana exports. In the 1930’s “Panama Disease” swept over the banana industry, decimating the market, and ultimately declaring the Gros Michel banana extinct, which was the main banana in the export industry due to its size and growability (Shedd, 2019). In the 1950’s, the Cavendish banana was discovered, and the banana industry was revived. In the 1970’s, a “Banana War” erupted when a dispute between United Brands and the banana producing countries came to a head regarding export taxes (Meditz & Hanratty, 1987). In response, the Panama government threatened to take over all United Brands plantation operations and redistribute them within the country. 6 years later, an agreement was made which resulted in all banana exports being taxed and United Brands selling all their land back to the Panama government. The government then attempted to redistribute the land among the citizens of the country and leased a portion of plantations back to United Brands. In the 1990’s, the United States filed a case against the European Union with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) claiming the EU had broken their free trade rules around banana exports (Barkham, 1999). The EU had free trade agreements with various Caribbean banana productions but imposed tariffs on Latin American banana exports. In 1997, the WTO voted in favor of the US, forcing the EU to change their rules. The results were not satisfactory to the US, which thus continued another Banana War. The US responded by imposing tariffs on popular EU exports such as cashmere and cheese, which further escalated the tensions between the two parties (European Parliament, 2011). Smaller Caribbean banana exporters were reaping the benefits of the banana war between the US and EU as it allowed their operations, often much smaller than the large US owned producers, to turn a profit without the competition. This not only showed healthy revenues for local producers, but also created many jobs, which also improves quality of life for workers and the country. The EU saw this as an opportunity to allow smaller producers to thrive without becoming dependent on corporate America (European Parliament, 2011). In 2009, an agreement between Latin America banana producers and the EU was reached, stating the EU would gradually lower their tariffs on Latin American banana exports over the next 8 years. To ease the transition, the smaller banana producing countries who were trading product to the EU duty-free were paid a lump sum of $200 million euros each, to aid in updating their processing and infrastructure to compete with the larger Latin American producers. Though this agreement favours the people in the EU with more selection and lower prices due to the abundance of available bananas, the EU was concerned that the smaller producers would see their profits decrease and struggle to hold their share of the EU banana market.

Bananas have been a staple food in America since their arrival in the 1500’s. Originating from the island of Papua New Guinea, there are over 1000 different varieties of bananas today, grown across 150 different countries (Mach & Reed, 2016). As of 2002, North America imported over 3.91 million tonnes of bananas, making them the largest importer of bananas in the world. Approximately 58% of the market shares of global banana exports in the US belonged to three major companies: Chiquita, Fresh del Monte and Dole. Panama, alongside Ecuador and Costa Rica are among the top 10 banana exporting countries in the world (Banana Link).

As a consumer in Canada, there is little option for alternative production companies when it comes to bananas, especially in small rural towns. Because the North American banana market is almost exclusively supplied by the big production companies (Del Monte, Chiquita, Dole and Fyffes), all of whom share many of the same values, it is nearly impossible to support small ethical producers. Through my research for this paper I am satisfied with most of the policies the big producers have regarding worker rights and environmental protection, though there is always room for improvement and media does not always paint both sides of the story fairly. If one was not satisfied, the only option would be to avoid purchasing bananas to stop supporting these corporations. Changes to the system would involve creating more opportunities for smaller producers to have a share in the market, though in todays money and power hungry market, this would be impossible and to no benefit of the large producers.

Barkham, P. (1999, March 5). The banana wars explained. European Union. https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/mar/05/eu.wto3

European Parliament. (2011, January 24). Ending the banana wars: Who wins and who loses? European Parliament News. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/world/20110121STO12285/ending-the-banana-wars-who-wins-and-who-loses

Mach, A., Reed, C. (2016, January 24). 8 things you didn’t know about bananas. PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-bananas

Meditz, S. W., Hanratty, D.M. (1987). Panama: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress.

Shedd, K. (2019, April 19). America’s favorite fruit could go extinct. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/19/how-bananas-became-so-popular.html

Unknown. n.d. All about bananas and why bananas matter. https://www.bananalink.org.uk/all-about-bananas/