Bananas and Rain
Forest
Destruction
HealthNewsDigest.com)
- Historically,
growing the
world’s most
popular fruit
has caused
massive
degradation of
rainforest land
across the
tropics, spread
noxious
chemicals
throughout
formerly
pristine
watersheds, and
poisoned and
exploited farm
workers.
“Banana
plantations were
infamous for
their
environmental
and social
abuses, which
included the use
of dangerous
pesticides, poor
working
conditions,
water pollution
and
deforestation,”
reports the
Rainforest
Alliance, a New
York-based
non-profit that
has been working
to improve
worker and
environmental
conditions in
the industry
since 1990.
“Pesticide-impregnated
plastic bags,
which protect
bananas as they
grow, often
littered
riverbanks and
beaches near
banana farms,
while
agrochemical
runoff and
erosion killed
fish, clogged
rivers and
choked coral
reefs.” Also,
the proximity of
housing to
banana fields,
coupled with lax
regulations for
pesticide
handling, led to
frequent illness
among workers
and people
living near the
plantations.
But help is on
the way, largely
thanks to the
pioneering work
of the
Rainforest
Alliance, which
certifies as
sustainable
those banana
farms and
plantations that
meet certain
criteria for
responsible farm
management set
by the
Sustainable
Agriculture
Network, a
coalition of
non-profits
striving to
improve
commodity
production in
the tropics. As
a result of the
program, some 15
percent of all
bananas sold
internationally
now come from
Rainforest
Alliance
Certified farms.
The group is
especially proud
of its
agreements with
two of the
largest growers,
Favorita and
Chiquita. All of
Favorita’s farms
in Ecuador and
all of
Chiquita’s farms
in Guatemala,
Honduras, Costa
Rica and Panama
are certified
sustainable
under the
program.
While the
Rainforest
Alliance’s
success is
certainly a step
in the right
direction, other
groups bemoan
the fact that
even certified
plantations are
on land that was
once tropical
rainforest.
According to
Rainforest
Relief,
Americans should
still avoid
purchasing
bananas
altogether and
instead opt for
fruit grown
locally, such as
apples, peaches,
cherries or
pears. The group
is hopeful,
though, that its
work with farm
cooperatives
growing organic
bananas under
the shade of a
diverse forest
canopy in Costa
Rica can
eventually drive
the larger
international
banana market
toward better
land use and
worker safety
standards.
“These growers
are for the most
part farming
only small
portions of the
land they own or
control, the
rest being left
as montaña—undisturbed
forest—to keep
their flowing
water fresh and
keep healthy the
wildlife that
‘works’ their
farms with
them,” reports
Rainforest
Relief. The
group has been
working to
develop
secondary
markets for
bananas that may
have been
bruised during
harvest or
transport but
which can still
be used for baby
food, vinegar
and other
applications
that don’t
require
unblemished
peels. Some of
these products
are marketed to
tourists in
Costa Rica while
others are sold
in the U.S.—look
for the
Rainforest Farms
brand, among
others—at Whole
Foods and other
natural foods
retailers.
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