Smash That Banana!

Bananas have played a pivotal part of my time in Costa Rica.  I have had them to eat nearly every day, seen many trees which grow all types, and growing.  Personally they have had nearly as much influence as rice and beans (baring what those do in the bathroom) but they play an important role in Costa Rica’s economy and culture too.

My personal likings of bananas have to go to one of the family members with the plantain and their being fried as a meal desert of sorts.  They are delicious and probably terrible for you because of the syrup they are cooked in.  I have also had fresh bananas cut up for breakfast which honestly taste the same as the ones I can get in the United States, but I imagine they are not as clean on the outside (brown spots, but that makes no difference).  There are other products that are available, such as dried banana chips but I have not had the opportunity to try those (I have been told they taste like potato chips) that shows how much influence they play on the daily diets in this country.

On to the more cultural aspect of bananas.  Like what was said in the Chiquita blog, the growing of bananas is not natural and has dire affects on the environment, but at the same time brings in valuable economic wealth for such a poor country.  I would hope that efforts and research would continue to decrease the damage they do to the environment while improving working conditions.  Since the “western” civilizations are the largest consumers and where the corporation’s headquarters are located, I believe that change could occur if pressure were to be pushed there.  This would is important because general environmental regulations are far stricter, which to import products, they must be in compliance.   So if a push were to start in the United States or Europe, environmental practices could be further improved from what Chiquita is doing now.  

Culturally, many people are employed in the banana business and it shows up various recipes and art around the country.  Like stated before with the food, it is a daily occurrence, which is awesome because I personally like them, but allows for some great variety in our diets.  As for the art, not much is to be said here other than it has been in some paintings and carvings that I have seen in the various places that we have visited on all coasts of the country.  The people that are employed in the industry take on tough challenge of making a living while risking health because of the dangerous pesticides.  Again going back to Chiquita, there are safety measures taken to protect the workers, but it only does so much since the chemicals are always on the plants in the fields.

Being my last posting on bananas, I have to say that they are awesome but do have some downsides in this country because the ones grown for consumption are not natural for this country which need many actions taken to grow.  I hope to be able to continue to each some of the recipes that I have run into here, particularly the fried plantains.