Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World | 
| Author: Dan Koeppel
Publisher: Hudson Street Press
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $11.60
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Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 17218
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3
ISBN: 1594630380
Dewey Decimal Number: 634.772
EAN: 9781594630385
ASIN: 1594630380
Publication Date: December 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION.
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Product Description
A gripping biological detective story that uncovers the myth, mystery, and endangered fate of the worlds 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, doesnt 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. Todays yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blightand theres no cure in sight.
Banana combines 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 worlds most beloved fruit.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Very informative July 17, 2008
A bit America-centric for European readers but nonetheless great to have all this info in one place.
Buy fair trade organic every time.
So much history with the Banana... June 13, 2008
I was amazed by this book. It begins with an introduction to the Banana and explains there is even a reference to this fruit in the Bible. Describes history and the impact the Banana has had on the world. Everyone assumes that only Cotton, Gold, and Oil impacted the world and trade & consumerism. But this book details the "hidden" history about the yellow fruit. Concerns about the future of the Banana (due to Panama Disease) are discussed. I reccomend this book to anyone interested in history or botany, or anyone just curious about this fruit!
I gave 4 stars because towards the middle the book got a little mundane and a lost interest for awhile. Overall, well written and interesting.
The book that changed my perceptions June 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Upon my hubbie's recommendation I read your book: Banana, The fate of the fruit etc.
Brilliant! I never imagined that bananas had, and still have, so much influence on America's life.
I recommend the book to everybody and is going to become my favorite gift to give to friends.
Every time I go to the market I cannot look at produce in general (or even coffee, meat, cheese etc) without thinking about the global impact of that crop or its implications in social and political life.
Can a book change your life? I guess yes, it changed mine!
The Geopolitical Ramifications of Fruit June 9, 2008
We've all heard the term "Banana Republic," even before a store decided to use it as a name. The thing was, not too many people knew just where the whole concept of such a government came from. The banana IS one of the most popular fruits in the U.S., if not the world, but who knew governments rose and fell on it?
Dan Koeppel's "Banana" tell us all about the ramifications of this food crop, and provides further information about its creation, breeding, and perhaps doom. I heard Keppel interviewed on NPR, so I already realized how fun this book was probably going to be, but was a bit put off on how much information was going to be crammed into it. Surely something would be shortchanged in the telling. Worse still, it wouldn't be as interesting as it sounded. Nope. Koeppel's writing style is just as fresh and dynamic as his verbal summaries.
In this day of commodities being more than just about how much they cost in money, it's worth taking a step back and seeing how they can have an effect on the lives of people involved in growing them, shipping them, marketing them, and selling them. A lot of governments rose and fell in Central and South America to bring us cheap and delicious bananas. There also didn't seem to be much thought in quality-of-life issues for folks living in what would become for us the banana heartland. Folks in Guatemala say suffered a lot from the meddling in civic affairs brought about by Standard Fruit et. al. "Banana" gives as much of a comprehensive look into this as can be, showing how U.S. fruit companies and the U.S. government's needs overrode the needs of people outside the United States.
It sounds depressing, but there's more to "Banana" than government meddling. Koeppel also gives us a thorough look into the science of bananas - how they're raised, how they were crossbred to bring us the banans we eat now, and how work is going into the next strain of banana that will be immune to the blight that caused the end of our grandparents' breed.
"Banana" is an interesting read and may be just the non-empty "beach book" for intellectuals curious into the total effect of something we may have thought of as "inconsequencial."
More than a fruit June 3, 2008
This book is a combination of botanical, economic, and political history. Koeppel begins with an overview of banana life history, explaining the unique facts of banana botany, and how the fruit was spread through its historical range. He then turns to how the banana was popularized in the United States, and traces the history of the companies that made it into a household fruit far from its tropical home. He also discusses the economic and political impact those companies had on the Central American countries were the fruit was grown. A further interest of Koeppel's are the diseases that have devastated bananas since they began to be grown industrially, and the current plague that will likely force major changes for the banana industry.
Having grown a few banana plants in myself in my living room, I was aware that bananas reproduce by suckers, not seeds. But I had never stopped to think of the implications of this on disease resistance, or lack of it. Since bananas are virtually sexless, there is practically no genetic variation that would allow for differences in disease resistance. Thus, when a pathogen is able to infect one banana tree, it can infect them all. And the conditions on industrial banana plantations, where a single crop is planted over hundreds or even thousands of acres, provides an ideal environment for developing pathogens able to overcome whatever natural resistance the trees might have. As Koeppel describes it, the big fruit companies tried to overcome diseases with a variety of chemical treatments, which poisoned the workers and the environment, but led to more resistant pathogens rather than more bananas.
The book is a real eye-opener on many levels. Banana fans will be fascinated to learn how bananas grow, and how new varieties are being developed. They may also be surprised to learn that genetic engineering, according to Koeppel, seems to be the most promising means of developing a new disease resistant variety that will satisfy consumer tastes. Other readers may pause to reflect--how could a fruit from the tropics have become a staple food throughout the temperate world, at prices that make it more affordable than locally grown fruits? Would American consumers have been so quick to adopt this fruit if they had known that the fruit companies had manipulated the US government to overthrow governments in fruit producing nations so that the banana supply would be maximally profitable for the fruit companies? Bananas make healthy, convenient snacks, but are they really necessary staples for the populations living in temperate zones?
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