Banana : The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

by Koeppel, Dan

• ISBN13: 9781594630385
• ISBN10: 1594630380
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-27
• Publisher: Hudson Street Press

Summary

A gripping biological detective story that uncovers the myth, mystery, and endangered fate of the world’s most humble fruit To most people, a banana is a banana: a simple yellow fruit. Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world, bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated. Rich cultural lore surrounds the fruit: In ancient translations of the Bible, the apple” consumed by Eve is actually a banana (it makes sense, doesn’t it?). Entire Central American nations have been said to rise and fall over the banana. But the biggest mystery about the banana today is whether it will survive. A seedless fruit with a unique reproductive system, every banana is a genetic duplicate of the next, and therefore susceptible to the same blights. Today’s yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blight—and there’s no cure in sight. Bananacombines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist)—ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world’s most beloved fruit.

Author Biography

Dan Koeppel, author of To See Every Bird on Earth, is a well-known outdoors and adventure writer whose articles have been published by The New York Times Magazine, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Los Angeles Times, and Popular Science.

Table of Contents

The World's Most Humble Fruit
Family Trees
And God Created the Banana	p. 3
A Banana in Your Pocket?	p. 9
The First Farm	p. 15
All in the Family	p. 20
Expansion
Asia	p. 27
Pacific	p. 34
Africa	p. 40
Americas	p. 45
Corn Flakes and Coup d'Etats
Bringing Bananas Home	p. 51
Taming the Wild	p. 57
Why Banana Peels Are Funny	p. 63
Sam the Banana Man	p. 71
No Bananas Today	p. 77
Man Makes a Banana	p. 80
The Banana Massacre	p. 84
The Inhuman Republics	p. 90
Straightening Out the Business	p. 93
Never Enough
Knowledge is Powerless	p. 99
Pure Science	p. 103
A Second Front	p. 106
No Respite	p. 111
Brand Name Bananas	p. 116
Guatemala	p. 119
Good-bye, Michel
Cavendish	p. 135
Falling Apart	p. 142
Embracing the New	p. 148
Chronic Injury	p. 152
Banana Plus Banana	p. 157
A Savior?	p. 166
Golden Child	p. 176
A New Banana
A Long Way from Panama	p. 185
Know Your Enemies	p. 194
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.