Banana round 3

This picture below shows the banana's not going to be exported and sold within the country.

I have finaly learned something about banana's. We visited the Chiquita banana plantation where i learned a lot more about how banana's are produced. First of all, banana's are not native to the tropics region and that is why they require many fungisides, herbisides, and pesticides. These are dangerious chemicals that can be very harmful to humans and to the surrounding eco-system. Chiquita told us how they are being "less-bad" and trying to control these factors. Chiquita is currently the second largest banana producer behind Dole. In the fields, banana's have a blue bag around them to protect them from bugs and from the harsh sunlight. Chiquita, unlike most other producers, recycle the bags. The processing/ packaging plant was pretty interesting to see.

The banana's are now being sprayed with the "less harmful" chemicals than in the past and workers are required to wear extensive equipmeent, where as other plantations, neither of these precautionary measures have been taken. Chiquita is commited to environmental sustainability. The banana's are chopped off at the stem and the whole stem is sent down a line, kind of like a ski lift, where it is then taken off at the packaging plant. They are then counted and weighed and cleaned for ten minutes. The banana's are also checked for quality where the flawless ones are sent off for europe, USA, and Asia and the ones with some flaws are thrown on a truck right away before being cleaned because they will be sold in Costa Rica under another label (or exported under another label)and some will be sent to make a banana puree for baby food, etc. After being cleaned, the banana's are sent down the factory to be either cut individualy or in bunches for packaging. The banana's all look very green and very tasty, they do not have any imperfections. They are then loaded on a truck and sent to be exported around the globe. Depending on the destination, the banana's arrive in the market between 3 and 11 days. The banana's are shipped at low temperatures to slow the ripening process.

The Chiquita Banana show was very interesting at best. Kind of the same thing as the Cafe Britt show, but a lot less organized. Basically a bunch of Tica women came out and danced and try to explain how banana's came to costa rica all of which was in spanish. i did take a video of the dancing chiquita banana girl.

Banana's Round 2

Still haven't seen any banana planatations or really heard much of anything about banana's yet. My house mother feeds me fresh banana's every morning. Maybe banana's are a large economic market in Costa Rica? Agriculture is 14.6% on the labor force in Costa Rica. A good chunk of that comes from banana's. The Standard Fruit Co. began productions in the Atlantic lowlands in 1956. Alongside ASBANA (Asociacion de Bananeros), a government-sponsored private association, Standard Fruit helped revive the Atlantic coast banana industry. Much of the new acreage has come at the expense of thousands of acres of untouched jungles. Banana export earnings rose from $482.9 million in 1992 to $531 million in 1993.

The banana industry is very important to developing countries along with coffee and tourism. Banana exports worldwide are valued at $4.7billion/ year. At the local and regional level where a strong bond is established between banana-generated income and household food security. Bananas are produced in mainly tropical climates because of the ideal growing conditions. Latin American and the Caribbean region dominated up to the eighties in banana production, the Asian region took the lead in banana production during the nineties. Costa Rica accounts for 3% of banana production amongst the world. However, Costa Rica accounts for about 14% of banana exports and distribution amongst the world.

Banana's grow in tropical regions within about 10 degrees of the equator that get about 78-98 inches of annual rainfall and where the temperature averages around 80 degrees F. Banana production is very labor intensive but plantations also utilize machinery. Workers must bag the stem of the plant and mark the bags with colored ribbons, 10 to 13 weeks from bagging. Some plants require twin to hold them up to ensure that they do not fall over with the extra weight of the stem. Workers also place padding in the banana's to protect them from bruising. Harvested plants are cut down, which allows for new growth.