Advantages And Disadvantages Of Bananas

Register to read the introduction… Bananas are cooked in ways that are comparable to potatoes. Both can be fried, boiled, baked, or chipped and have similar taste and texture when served and one banana provides about the same calories as one potato. Corporations in the banana industry have flourished over the years based on the lack of unity, poverty, and corrupt governments in many third world countries. Businesses were able to get favorable terms, the best land, and vertical integration of the whole production and supply processes making them large, powerful and extremely influential entities. The industry for bananas is always in high demand because it is a fruit that is not grown year round and can be a great substitute throughout the off seasons for other fruits. Most banana farmers receive a low price for their produce as grocery companies pay discounted prices for buying in enormous quantity and this can affect many individuals within the sector. The industry is very competitive with many producers and buyers, which allows for many unethical situations and practices. The European Union has customarily imported many of their bananas from former European Caribbean colonies, paying guaranteed prices above global market rates. As of 2005, these arrangements were in the process of being eliminated under pressure from other major trading powers, principally the United States. The withdrawal of these indirect aids to Caribbean producers is expected to favor the banana producers of Central America, in which American companies have an economic …show more content…
There are 57 certified producer groups in ten countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa supplying Fair Trade bananas to twenty countries in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Fair Trade is trying to eliminate the corporate influence by providing banana farmers a direct connection into the marketplace. The Fair Trade certifications for bananas ensures that farmers receive a fair price for their fruit and that farmworkers have good working conditions, and receive fair wages. The Fair Trade price is set to allow farmers to cover the costs of workable production, without the use of destructive chemicals, and provide an average standard of living for farming families. The facilitation of the Fair Trade program will include an inspected visit to the farm once a year, investment for local education, health and crop management and resources to improve the business structure. Many banana farmers across the world would not survive if fair Trade did not exist because the large corporations like Dole and Chiquita who control over 50% of the market segment destroy the workplace environment through product price and demand. Whether forced labor circumstances and modern forms of slavery, unpaid wages, sexual harassment or child labor, it’s hard to argue that the global labor condition has significantly improved over the past decade because of programs like Free Trade (Hollender, 2012). There are some issues regarding the privilege to belong to Free Trade because Dole and Chiquita have both been accused of providing money to terrorist organizations. Dole was accused of driving small farmers from their land to allow Dole to plant bananas; driving leftist guerrillas out of the Magdalena banana zone, and in the process murdering thousands of innocent people, including