FOOD
The fruits of our labour
by Carol Off
(reviewed with CITRUS: A History, by Pierre Laszlo)
There was a time, not long ago, when most people spent most of their time producing food. The inverse
is now true, at least for those of us in the developed world. Paradoxically, as we move further and further
away from the source of what sustains us, we’ve become more obsessed with knowing where our food
comes from and under what circumstances it’s harvested.
The world’s most important bananas – the ones people subsist on – are grown in Africa. But, sadly, there’s been little global attention paid to the plight of the African fruit, which faces disease, loss of diversity, as well as damage due to war and changes in culture and population. Scientists have been unable, for the most part, to obtain either the funding to work on preserving and studying existing African varieties, or work on introducing new banana types to the continent. In October, for the first time, the world’s banana experts will gather in Kenya for a conference dedicated to the African banana.
Though most readers of this blog probably won’t find reason to attend, the event is historic and important, and I’ll be covering it as it approaches – and as it happens, since I plan to attend. The key point, again: the world hasn’t woken up to how important – or threatened – bananas are. This is a huge step.
More on the conference here.
Farmers Market, 3rd & Fairfax, Los Angeles, May 5, 2008
First good. Second, not so good.
More or less, maybe, according to the May issue of the science/tech/culture publication, because:
GMO agriculture may have a smaller carbon footprint than traditionally grown crops.
Organics may have a larger carbon footprint than traditionally grown crops.
In my book, I note that the promise of organic bananas is far less than we’d wish it to be – and the potential of GM bananas has been so undervalued (and so feared) as to be a factor in creating hunger in banana-dependent populations worldwide, as well as contributing to the reduction of genetic diversity in the global banana crop.
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Best banana picture ever – from the banana museum’s website
Fake memoirist, real novelist, and – best of all – Oprah nemesis James Frey mentions Altadena banana museum; Los Angeles Times uses “banana expert” (me) to confirm that it exists (or existed; it has since moved to Hesperia, in the California high desert.)
About the picture: The proprietor of the museum, Ken Banister, has his shirt open at the belly. He is standing above a “banana club” logo, and next to a pile of bananas. A man who has burst into flames runs in front of them. To Ken’s left a child on an adult’s shoulders seems to stare in amazement. To the right, two adults laugh. The man closer to Banister seems to be applauding. All the way on the left side of the picture, a man in a pork pie hat and red knee socks, sitting and only half in frame, appears to be indifferent to the spectacle.
What in heck is going on here?
Image: New York Times
…including brown bananas, which have lots of uses, including banana bread.
Great story in the New York Times. More on the Wasted Food Blog.
Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman recommends it.
Listen to my interview on NPR's Fresh Air.
My own op-ed in the New York Times.
Other Books:
