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Going Bananas

I have two questions.

1) If you by these Dole Cavendish bananas in 7-11...

are you buying into the use of poison rain in corporate banana plantations in Mindanao?
"In May 2009, the Department of Health released its study (“Health and Environmental Assessment of Sitio Camocaan, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur”) which showed that residents exposed to the spray were found to have pesticide traces in their blood. Air and soil outside plantation boundaries were also found to be contaminated. The study recommended banning aerial spraying and a shift to organic methods...

"'We are not bananas. We are not pests.' This is the cry of communities near banana plantations in Mindanao who have to suffer the adverse effects of regular toxic aerial spraying. Imagine yourself sipping coffee under the open sky when suddenly something lands in your cup. Imagine yourself a child on your way to school and getting sprayed with pesticides. Farmers working on their small farms and people doing their daily chores are among those who suffer indirect hits and have to run for cover when airplanes unleash pesticides on vast banana plantations. While they are not the intended targets, there is no way they can avoid getting hit by the airplanes’ toxic load...

"People who live with constant spraying complain of respiratory and skin ailments... Fruit trees and farm animals have died. Malunggay trees have withered...

"MAAS [Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying] said that the tridemorph and chlorothalonil fungicides used in the Philippines are banned in other countries...

"Davao City is not the only place in Mindanao that has to put up with aerial spraying. Davao City’s feisty Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is a vocal anti-aerial spraying advocate and the city government has passed an ordinance against it. But the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) challenged the ordinance in court...

"The petitioners got a favorable decision but PBGEA elevated the case to the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, aerial spraying continues...

"In the Philippines, exporters of Cavendish bananas use the aerial spraying method to kill the Sigatoka fungus. Aerial bombardment hits not just the intended targets but human and non-humans as well that happen to be within the range of the toxic drift, which reaches 3.2 kms. on the average."

-- From the Sept. 10, 2009 column of Ma. Ceres Doyo


And 2) why buy a bland, P12 Dole Cavendish Banana Single (that insults your capacity for intelligent choice)

when you can buy native bananas of different textures and wonderful tastes at P1.50 to P3 each in the market?

Don't be deceived by appearances. This is the good stuff!
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Silly people think that a nonblemished banana skin is better. When the "Rust" on bananas means a sweeter more flavorful banana, albeit a more delicate-fleshed one, due to the reaction of the fruit to the fungus that causes the rust.
I've always loved our native bananas better. The more kalawang, the better the flavor. The trouble is that Cavendish bananas can travel farther because they are firmer and keep whole better. Kaya nga dinevelop, kaso nga lang, yung aerial spraying. ay naku.
26 September 2009 at 21:20
Anonymous said…
branded kasi kaya may perceived added value ang dole cavendish.

dapat may counter-marketing strategy: ibenta ang mga saging sa baguio market bilang organically-grown. ibenta ang idea na mas masarap at mas nutritious. meron bang banana growers coop? gawa sila ng brand, perhaps, Organix Banana, complete with logo. think packaging,too. tapatan nila sa 7-11, other convenience stores, at supermarts.

anyway, the best bananas i've had as a child were from baguio backyards. (and my brother asks, whose septic tank? haha!)
22 January 2010 at 12:04
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