Yes, We Will Have No Bananas

[sweeps]

ONCE you become accustomed to gas at $4 a gallon, brace yourself for the next shocking retail threshold: bananas reaching $1 a pound....

The immediate reasons for the price increase are the rising cost of oil and reduced supply caused by floods in Ecuador, the world’s biggest banana exporter. But something larger is going on that will affect prices for years to come.

NYT Article

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I disagree that most apples come from within a few hundred miles of the buyers home. I buy apples from Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand, Japan, and a few from my own state and the next door state. That, too requires a lot of long distance shipping. Bananas just led the race. My dad has a story about unloading bananas for his friend's father who was a produce wholesaler during World War II. Made me realize that even during that war bananas were an everyday part of the USAmerican diet and the shipments must have been privileged and protected. What other imports were so easily gotten at the time?

[FrugalFish]

I disagree that most apples come from within a few hundred miles of the buyers home.

Very true. I don't think a lot of us really know/understand where many of our foods come from- particularly true for produce where you might not see the labeling of origin.

I live in an area where garlic and onions are grown. Something that always strikes me as so very funny is that friends and family in other states are the ones who buy our locally grown garlic at their stores. Where does my locally purchased garlic come from? China, of course. I try not to buy garlic from China, but most of what I find locally is from overseas. I do not fully understand this, but suspect that it is more profitable to send domestic garlic to more distant US locations- so we end up with the China garlic by default. Perhaps this will change soon.

[aevans1206]

Very fascinating article. The book will go on my summer reading list!

[JanH]

For me, it will be returning to my childhood. We were awash in vegetables grown in the garden. And occasionally a watermelon. Tomatoes in abundance. But, fruits were a luxury. Juice glasses were little bitty things, and you didn't get more than that for a serving. Oranges were put in stockings at Christmas for a treat. Strawberries were expensive. Both our neighbors grew them for a cash crop. We didn't dare steal one. lol. And, I rarely saw a cantaloupe. We got pears at Grandma's sometimes, and apples and peaches in season. I think my dad did have a fondness for bananas and ate them more often than we did. Hubby's grandmother owned an orchard and I would have LOVED to have lived near her. When we visited her after we married, I gorged on peaches! For me, having any kind of fruit I want at my fingertips has been amazing. I guess we'll have to go back to enjoying them sparingly.