Go Bananas

Transcript

How did the Cavendish banana come to dominate the globe and will it be around for much longer?

Each year humans consume an estimated 100 billion bananas making bananas one of the world’s largest crops after wheat, rice and corn. But bananas weren’t always big bright and yellow, they likely got their start as a browner smaller fruit around 8000 BC grown only in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea. Farmers took the early species of banana-like the ‘Musa Acuminata’ and the ‘Muse Alba Siana; and crossbred different strains to produce a more substantive fruit that contained fewer seeds. But only in the 15th century did bananas cross the Atlantic transported by Portuguese colonists and who planted bananas in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Now, over 80% of the world’s banana exports come from those regions. In the mid 19th century helped in part by Jules Verne’s descriptions of the exotic fruit and ‘Around the world in 80 days’ people started going bananas for bananas.

But the legendary Cavendish banana had not caught on just yet the softer and creamier ‘Gros Michel’ variety was the pick of the crop and according to ads they tasted out of this world. However, in the 1920s a fungus called ‘Fusarium Race 1’ ran rampant through the ‘Gros Michel’ banana causing the variety to go almost completely extinct.

People began turning to the ‘Gros Michel’s cousin Cavendish as an alternative by the 1950s. Named after William Cavendish, avid horticulturist and the sixth Duke of Devonshire who acquired an early specimen of that species. But maybe you shouldn’t get too familiar with this variety either the Cavendish bananas don’t produce usable seeds so each new banana tree is actually a clone from the stem of the one before. This means the new epidemic ‘Fusariuml Race 4’ is spreading rapidly devastating crops across Asia, Africa and Australia.  The UN is worried it might soon spread to South America threatening 36 billion dollar industry and a vital food supply. Will the Cavendish survive or will a new type of banana be forced to take its place?

One banana two bananas three bananas four
Five bananas six bananas seven bananas more
One banana is not enough for me
Two bananas is twice as good you see
Three Bananas, now that’s what you call a treat!
Bit of ice cream on top, oo so good!

In case you’ve just tuned in, this is yours truly Justin Time.
Our producer Jerry is not here today because he is a bit down in the dumps. He had, how can I say, a misunderstanding at the supermarket yesterday.

Well, he made me promise not to tell anyone, but I am sure he won’t mind if I tell you, erm as long as you keep it a secret too. You will won’t you, because if he finds out I will be in big trouble.
Anyway, yesterday he decided that bacon ‘n’ eggs for breakfast every day was not good for his health. Can’t think why not myself. Well, he is a bit of an odd character is Jerry.

He went to the supermarket and got some cereal, the one that keeps you going all day, to the toilet, you know, and some natural yoghurt to put in with the milk, not forgetting a bottle of honey. Then he thought, ‘Ah fresh fruit, bananas!’

When he got to the fruit section, there was a large woman standing there in front of the bananas
squeezing them all. Jerry was horrified, the thought of her fingers bruising every one of them He could already imagine the brown marks on them in his healthy breakfast bowl.

Finally, she picked up a bunch and walked away…
So what didgeridoo? Didgeridoo? Hang on, that was last week. Oh, eh sorry about that. It’s a lovely word, isn’t it?

Erm, where were we Dave? You remember Dave my engineer. Ah yes, what didgeridoo, oh dear me. Read my lips, WHAT DID JERRY DO? So he walked over to her and said, ‘Excuse me Madam, you seem to be an expert on bananas. I wonder if I might just give yours a squeeze so that I will know how to find the best ones myself in the future?’

Now the woman was surprised and just stood there with her big mouth wide open. Without waiting for an answer Jerry gave her bananas a squeeze. He said he couldn’t help himself.
Suddenly, the woman went ape, shouting, screaming, carrying on, went crazy, nuts, bonkers. Well, in fact, she went bananas!

Anyway, it all turned out okay in the end. Dave and I went down and got Jerry out of the police station. He had to promise them that he would never touch anybody’s bananas ever again, uninvited that is.

Now he is back on bacon ‘n’ eggs, much more healthy as the winter’s coming on.
He’s gone right off bananas…
Kind of nice when Jerry is not around, Dave and I can have a bit of a laugh, can’t we Dave?
Yeah, can see him nodding and smiling through the glass.
Now I’d like to dedicate this song to Jerry, Who I know is not listening because if were he would have stopped the show already