NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.walletpop.com/2008/05/29/no-longer-going-bananas-plague-may-wipe-out-entire-fruit/?icid=100214839x1203056484x1200114616
My daughters love bananas, especially Lorelei. She is four years old, which means there is much she doesn't like. She doesn't like fried chicken, or baked chicken, or any chicken unless they're in the form of chicken nuggets. She doesn't like hamburgers. She doesn't like lasagna or mushrooms or eggs. But among the few foods she loves that are nutritious, she does enjoy a good banana.

And now I'm reading that in possibly as soon as five years -- maybe as long as 30 -- there will be no bananas left. Wiped out. Finished. No longer on the Earth. Or at least no longer edible.

Johann Hari of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote an interesting story recently about Panama Disease, a fungus that's been killing banana trees for about a century now. What's truly chilling is that the disease is getting stronger, and there is no cure.
(Incidentally, if you're really gripped with fear and full of interest in this, you should check out the book that Hari references, which came out on shelves several months ago, Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan Koeppel.)

So what is Panama Disease, and what's the problem?

Well, as noted, it's a fungus and was first reported in Australia in 1876. As best as I can decipher at a web page on Plant Management Network -- they get pretty heavy on the banana terminology -- and then wilting the leaves and eventually going to the youngest leaves. Eventually, the entire tree has dead or dying leaves.

There is no cure, and that's the big problem. It destroyed a banana called the Gros Michel, which was very popular for the first five to six decades of the 20th century. Banana packagers loved it. The Gros Michel had a thick skin -- bananas didn't bruise easily, so they were easy to pack in crates, and they didn't need much climate control.

I'm left wondering if the Gros Michel was slippery, since in black and white movies particularly, comedians are often slipping on banana peels. At any rate, the Gros Michel did make an impact on popular culture. For instance, according to a Wikipedia entry, the 1923 musical song, "Yes, We Have No Bananas," was inspired by a shortage of these Gros Michel bananas, also called "Big Mike" bananas, due to the Panama disease.

By 1960, the Gros Michel banana had been replaced by the Vietnamese Cavendish banana, the banana we have today. Still quite delicious, but apparently not as yummy as what our grandparents were enjoying.

The Cavendish banana had built up a pretty good resistance to Panama Disease, but according to Koeppel's book, which explains the history of the banana in-depth and how the term "banana republic" got its name, the fungus is back and stronger than ever.

It may take five years, or thirty, according to the article in the Seattle PI, but the banana as we know it is probably doomed. I think I'm going to pass on mentioning this to my four-year-old.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).
Sad. very sad. I like bananas :(

OUR bannana. That's just one kind of bannana.

OUR bannana. That's just one kind of bannana.
But the other kinds might not be so nummy.

But the other kinds might not be so nummy.

We get at least four different varieties of banana here, and they are all nummy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_disease

Wiki says that there are countermeasures.

This… this has all happened before (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel)!

Not the bananas! Whatever will do to placate the chimp hordes now?!

We're doomed! DOOMED!

That's because you guys like to have only a certain variety/kind/size/curvature of banana, so when them fungi eats your bananas before you do, no bananas for you. Meanwhile, we go on munching on other teh other smaller, more curved kinds. ;)

My dad prefers today's banana to the ones he grew up eating in the '40s. I asked. Not that that proves anything, other than that people have different tastes.

Anyway, I doubt the banana's going anywhere. But if it does, there's no reason to think the next banana won't be just as good. Could be better, who knows?

Meanwhile, we go on munching on other teh other smaller, more curved kinds. ;)

...fried in oil, coated in batter and rolled in sugar. ;)

That's why GMOs are dangerous. One disease could destroy vast cultivations.

...fried in oil, coated in batter and rolled in sugar. ;)
And we do have snacks like that, except for the batter coating. Them bananas are fried and then rolled in sugar (they had a term for it, I just couldn't recall it.) Or you can do it the other way around: roll the banana in brown sugar and fry it to caramelize the sugar. We call it banana-Q. Or, we wrap the bananas, along with a sliver of jackfruit, in a thin edible wrapper (we call "lumpia wrapper", something akin to a crepe), roll it in sugar, and then fry it (we call it "turon"). Mmmmmmmmm.

(But these recipes use a certain kind of banana. Certainly not the bananas you like to consume.)

And we do have snacks like that, except for the batter coating. Them bananas are fried and then rolled in sugar (they had a term for it, I just couldn't recall it.) Or you can do it the other way around: roll the banana in brown sugar and fry it to caramelize the sugar. We call it banana-Q. Or, we wrap the bananas, along with a sliver of jackfruit, in a thin edible wrapper (we call "lumpia wrapper", something akin to a crepe), roll it in sugar, and then fry it (we call it "turon"). Mmmmmmmmm.

(But these recipes use a certain kind of banana. Certainly not the bananas you like to consume.)

I've tried both of those - great stuff. :) The large variety of markets is one of the benefits of living in California - not sure if it outweighs the insane cost of living, but it's cool anyway. :p Yeah, it is a different banana though.

...fried in oil, coated in batter and rolled in sugar. ;)

Make sure you do that in the reverse order of how you typed that -- otherwise...yuck...unless you're a raw batter kind of guy.

I've tried both of those - great stuff. :) The large variety of markets is one of the benefits of living in California - not sure if it outweighs the insane cost of living, but it's cool anyway. :p Yeah, it is a different banana though.
IIRC we call the banana "saba". We do have other varieties of bananas. ANd many other recipes for bananas.

Why bananas? Why couldn't this happen to brussels sprouts instead? :mad:

Why bananas? Why couldn't this happen to brussels sprouts instead? :mad:

Brussels sprouts? What are you, a racist?

Brussels sprouts? What are you, a racist?

Okay, I don't get it; is this supposed to be a joke? How does not liking a certain vegetable make me racist?

Okay, I don't get it; is this supposed to be a joke? How does not liking a certain vegetable make me racist?

:rolleyes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels

As for food destroying diseases, another pops up from time to time that would concern me more - some unknown disease killing whole bee hives. There were claims that bees might vanish in sooner or later, leaving us with 1/3 less food. But then again, either story might be an overly pessimistic forecast...

That's why GMOs are dangerous. One disease could destroy vast cultivations.That's not so much a problem with GMOs as with monocultures, which includes most of our crops, genetically modified or not.

*goes bananas*

I'd like to point out that this disease become a truly global problem after nuclear weapons where tested à la Godzilla

That's not so much a problem with GMOs as with monocultures, which includes most of our crops, genetically modified or not.

still that means any hope of eating fish past 2040-ish are doomed (maybe we should start eating more mixed fruit?)

Argh, I love bananas. I have a banana every day, don't know what I'd do without them. :(

:rolleyes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels

As for food destroying diseases, another pops up from time to time that would concern me more - some unknown disease killing whole bee hives. There were claims that bees might vanish in sooner or later, leaving us with 1/3 less food. But then again, either story might be an overly pessimistic forecast...
Nice job! But he's actually talking about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussel_sprouts

Which, I should point out, are delicious and nutritious and most certainly should NOT be the victim of a parasite or anything else except our bodies. Nummy nummy.

Nice job! But he's actually talking about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussel_sprouts

Which, I should point out, are delicious and nutritious and most certainly should NOT be the victim of a parasite or anything else except our bodies. Nummy nummy.

Indeed! I read the wikipedia article, and it appears that the one time I had Brussels sprouts, they were horribly overcooked. That's right, they smelled and tasted awful. Perhaps I will give them another chance. :)

:rolleyes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels

Was this really necessary?

Hint: No. No it wasnt.

They should create indoor farms which regulate conditions and completely quarantine the bananas to protect them from diseases of the outside.

A shame, although I hate the things.

They should create indoor farms which regulate conditions and completely quarantine the bananas to protect them from diseases of the outside.

In some circles this concept is refered to as an hydroponic grow room, I am looking at three of the little beauties right now...although it can take as much as 3000 watts of artificial light to actually produce anything but a beautiful tree (sans banan's) Actually My potassium levels are low, better banana up before it's too late!:eek:

They should create indoor farms which regulate conditions and completely quarantine the bananas to protect them from diseases of the outside.
The only thing worth growing with hydroponics is high-quality drugs.

The only thing worth growing with hydroponics is high-quality drugs.

While I do not dis-agree per say, you have obviously never had the experience of eating a fresh, warm, pestiside free tomato right off the vine, when it is 20 below zero outside...Try it you'll like it...BTW, my boss wanted to make a t-shirt with "Hydroponics...Not just for ganja anymore" :D

While I do not dis-agree per say
PER SE! AIEEEE!
you have obviously never had the experience of eating a fresh, warm, pestiside free tomato right off the vine, when it is 20 below zero outside...Try it you'll like it...
Bugger that - eat what's in season, it's better for you ;)
BTW, my boss wanted to make a t-shirt with "Hydroponics...Not just for ganja anymore" :D
Aye, I'd agree with that, if you put the effort in, even coke is possible.

"Bugger that - eat what's in season, it's better for you"

Ah, but here you need to do a bit more research. Growing vegies (or whatever) in a controled environment, does not just mean the atmosphere, but what the plants are being fed...It is very possible to create vegies with more nutritional value than farm grown...woops here comes the boss...gotta go...though would love to continue this later;)

"Bugger that - eat what's in season, it's better for you"

Ah, but here you need to do a bit more research. Growing vegies (or whatever) in a controled environment, does not just mean the atmosphere, but what the plants are being fed...It is very possible to create vegies with more nutritional value than farm grown...woops here comes the boss...gotta go...though would love to continue this later;)
I'd rather just eat what was genuinely in season than something which took incredibly vast amounts of energy to produce, to be honest.

I'd rather just eat what was genuinely in season than something which took incredibly vast amounts of energy to produce, to be honest.

Well, if we start up with this vertical farming stuff, we might be able to dodge that bullet completely.

But until then, I agree, it makes more sense to go with what's in season.