Bananas Industry (A Reflection)

Of the three industries that I researched (coffee, ecotourism, and bananas), banana growing is definately lagging in terms of becoming sustainable. Though Chiquita seems to be moving in the right direction, it is only doing so on one plantation and as "Cradle to Cradle" says, being less bad isn't good. When Chiquita is considered a revolutionist in the industry for educating its workers on how not to get sick and for planting a million trees, it is clear that the industry as a whole is far from sustainable.

With that in mind, I began to wonder what would be the best way to move the banana industry onto a more sustainable path for the future. As we learned in class, usually market pressures are the most effective way of imposing change. So, from a market standpoint, what can individual consumers do? What can corporations like Chiquita and Dole do?

The answers are not clear cut but for consumers, the key to making banana companies change will be by speaking with their pocket books. If by changing in some way the amount or kind of bananas they buy, consumers will be able to show the big corporations that they will not stand for anything but change towards being more environmentally sustainable. For Chiquita and Dole and the other big corporations that dominate the banana industry, their roles will be, to change their viewpoints on social and environmental issues involving their companies. Chiquita has made small steps towards realizing and beginning change but I would guesse that 99% of the industry does not share the same views. This must change. It is the responsability of the company's decision makers to realize the harmfulness their banana growing is causing and to turn the industry towards sustainable practice.

Bananas are an intregal part of the economy in CR and an important piece of diets all around the world. Both these facts along with the increasing demand are reasons for an urgent change in the banana industry. The industry must change before its harmful effects are to bad to be reversed. My personal opinion is that bananas are very detrimental to the environment and if the industry is not made sustainable then the whole world may pay the price as future of things like global warming near.