Bananas, Are They the Quintessential Health Food? A Global/Local Perspective

1. Bananas, Are They the Quintessential Health Food? A Global/Local Perspective By Susan L. Andreatta

2. “Healthy living” and “Healthy eating” • Increasing public awareness of this in the 1980s and 1990s resulting in a reduction in the amount of meat, poultry, and fish consumed and a growing interest in vegetarian diets that cuts across classes and ethnic groups • This dietary shift parallels societies’ increasing awareness of and concern for the environment • “greening” effect • “free range”, “low fat”, “no fat”, “environmentally safe” or “non-animal tested”

3. However, crop cultivation that contributes to vegetarian diets is not always as benign or environmentally friendly as is often assumed • Avoiding the use of animals does not necessarily make agriculture, aquaculture, or vegetarian diets “green” or “safe”, “healthy” or “environmentally friendly” • We should incorporate the health and safety of growers and the environment

4. Bananas –Health food? • For many people bananas appear to be the quintessential health food. Consumers throughout the world enjoy bananas • Bananas are one of the “must import” food commodities, with world trade in 1993 valued at $75 billion • Article draws on research in the Windward Island banana growers in St. Vincent, to illustrate how pressure from transnational corporations contributes to social injustice and environmental degradation • Evidence indicates that international banana industries are having an adverse effect on economies, livelihoods and the physical Environment on both a local and global scale

5. Transnational Banana Trade- The European Union’s Control • More than 90% of world banana exports are to the developed market economies of the north, yet only 22% of the worldwide banana crop are grown for export, and most bananas serve as a staple food for the population in the areas where they are cultivated • The European Union is the single largest importer of bananas in the world • In the United States and the United Kingdom bananas are more popular than any other fruit

6. Europe is the largest fresh-fruit importer and the EU is the predominant force in importing Chiquita, Del Monte, and Dole, the three largest USA-based banana multinationals, own 20% of the plantations in Central America and control 75% of the trade in that region Between them these companies control 70% of the world banana trade Windward Island Bananas Comprised of several Banana Growers’ Associations (BGAs) 27,000 registered banana growers on the Windward Islands are organized into four BGAs the international banana trade regime has had significant influence on Windward Island banana production In 1954 St. Vincent and Grenadines BGA entered into a standing contract with Geest Industries UK whereby all bananas of exportable quality had to be sold to Geest

7. Contract problems • Contractual agreements between Geest and the Windward Island BGA have been strained for nearly four decades • Realized price-farmers produce the bananas, they are delivered to Geest, Geest transports the bananas on their ships to the UK, deducts all agreed costs and what is left is what the farmers and associates get • Under this arrangement Geest has no real incentive to fight for cost reduction, since Geest costs are deducted”

8. St. Vincent’s economic base is derived primarily from agricultural production, which accounts for 20% of the GDP and 80% of the merchandise exported Banana plants now occupy 41% of the 29,000 acres of arable land on St. Vincent Struggling Bananas and Banana Growers in St. Vincent Export banana production more than doubled between 1983 and 1992 However, the 1990s began a dramatic decline in the banana industry, which struggled with a relative devaluation of the European currency and a drop in the green wholesale price for Vincentian bananas Growers and the BGAs were uncertain of the future of the banana trade St. Vincent’s Banana Growers

9. Banana Production and its Environmental Impacts • A number of agricultural biocides have been developed to maximize yields, produce crops efficiently, and to meet supermarkets’ and consumers’ expectations for blemish-free produce • Agroecological impacts from certain biocides have resulted in varying degrees of pest resistance and resurgence, and in persistence of biocide residues in the natural environment, as well as chronic health problems and poisonings associated with exposure

10. Environmental Impact of St. Vincent’s Bananas • In comparison to other Global South countries St. Vincent is more restrictive in controlling the importation if agrochemicals • However, St. Vincent at the present has no governmental standards and no means of detecting pesticide levels in food or water on the island • 20% of aerial sprays on St. Vincent never reach their target, but are blown, settling down on houses, in streams, in water catchments, on other agricultural produce, and on humans and animals • Agriculturalists and others have commented upon a severe reduction in wildlife species in aerial spray areas

11. The future of Windward Island Banana Producers • It is clear from the local level that both the environment and the growers suffer from the unequal balance of power, inequities of production and distribution, and an array of injustices • The majority of banana growers are economically worse off today than in the past as a result of the base price reduction, rising costs of production, deteriorating field conditions, banana expansion into marginal low-yielding lands, and the increased time required to produce, harvest, and package bananas to meet Geest’s criteria and EU standards for quality fruit • Bananas are not necessarily the quintessential health food when their production is taken into consideration

12. Ultimately a fairer trade within bananas, where a fair price is received at the farm gate, could enable growers to improve their quality of life and that of their fields • Steps must be taken to improve banana productivity, not only to meet the standards imposed by the European Union and the transnational corporations, but also to improve environmental conditions and growers’ safety • As banana eaters, we are all involved; it is not just growers who must change their production strategies