![]() ![]() In many areas, an abundance of desperately poor migrant workers makes jobs in the banana industry very insecure. ![]() Īdditionally, increases in profits for banana-producing companies are not reflected in the wages of plantation workers, who are estimated to receive a mere one to three percent of a banana’s retail value. have poor records on the enforcement of labor laws, whether from lack of resources or political will. Many of the countries that are the primary exporters of bananas-such as Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and others. In 2011–2012 alone, seven Guatemalan banana union members were murdered. These plantations, often developed on land obtained by corporations at an unusually low cost, “are effectively run as enclave economies.” This kind of structure-in which non-local, export-based industries control regional production-is rife with human rights abuses, which have been and continue to be widespread in the banana industry. In Central America, these are owned and operated by large multinational corporations that also manage the fruit’s preparation for the consumers as well as its distribution. In the years since, sky-high North American and European demand for bananas has made them-like coffee, chocolate, and palm oil-an unsustainable monoculture crop, and the industry is embroiled in countless labor and environmental crises.īananas are often grown on large plantations, with workers living on site. and European colonialism, advertised as bringing “modernity” to tropical regions and making use of “useless” jungle. The production of bananas for export was part and parcel of 19 th– and 20 th-century U.S. Like many agricultural commodities, however, this seemingly wholesome food has a dark history. Research began in the early 1900s to develop a disease-resistant banana, which led to the introduction of the Cavendish banana-the kind we find in the produce department of grocery stores today. In 1890, a disease spread throughout banana-growing regions of Latin America and the Caribbean and destroyed many banana farms. Bananas have been sold in North America since the late 1800s, although the popular variety at that time is not the one we enjoy today. © Eric St-Pierreīananas are the most popular fruit in the world, with more than 100 billion consumed annually. Pablo Mera, Worker, Harvesting bananas at the plantation of Vincente Matute, a member of El Guabo, a fair trade banana cooperative of Ecuador.
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