Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World

This Thanksgiving, One Condiment to Rule Them All

Got this at a Philippine grocery a few blocks from my house in Los Angeles. Price: $1.59. The lady behind the counter called it "banana ketchup," and that's pretty much what it is, with the same basic ingredients - sugar, vinegar, salt, and spices - as the tomato stuff, but with bananas substituted for the red fruit base.

There are a bunch of varieties from Jufran. The product is listed at Ketchupworld.com, with both regular and hot versions; neither of these seem to be the one I found - the ingredients listed for both are different. The ketchup site gets $3.50 for a mail-ordered bottle. Searching around, it seems that the product has multiple incarnations, with different labeling - some designated as "sauce," others as "ketchup," and some using bright red food coloring to make them look more like the real thing. Mine is marked as "The Original," so I'll go with that.

How did ours taste? Fantastic: a little spicy, a little sweet - with the same consistency as tomato ketchup. I had mine on a big hunk of Turkey breast. Whupped the daylights out of cranberry sauce.

All hail the new King of Condiments.

Here's a link to a brief wikipedia entry on banana ketchup.

Obama's Pick For Attorney General Has Banana Problems

Eric Holder, Chiquita defender and Obama pick for U.S. Attorney General.

I've gotten dozens of emails in the 48 hours since Eric Holder emerged as President-elect Barack Obama's choice as U.S. Attorney General. To summarize: Holder is a former deputy U.S. attorney general in the Clinton administration who has been described as a "long-time Obama advisor." He was part of the committee that helped Obama choose Joe Biden as vice-presidential nominee. Holder would be the nation's first African-American attorney general. He's currently in private practice with the law firm of Covington & Burling, which is where the banana trouble begins.

Here's the key part of the Wikipedia page on Holder that explains it (I urge you to read the whole entry, which summarizes his entire career.)

"In 2004, Holder helped negotiate an agreement with the Justice Department for Chiquita Brands International in a case that involved Chiquita's payment of "protection money" to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations. In the agreement, Chiquita's officials pleaded guilty and paid a fine of $25 million. Holder represents Chiquita in the civil action that grew out of this criminal case."

The civil action mentioned in the article is a lawsuit on behalf of the families of seven missionaries who were murdered by Colombia's United Self Defense Forces (AUC). The suit alleges that since Chiquita was funding the AUC at the times the killings occurred, the banana company bears some responsibility for them.

I agree, and I've blogged about the issue numerous times. Here are links to some of the previous entries:

• In May, the CBS News program "60 Minutes" did a segment on the Colombia-Chiquita story. It included an interview with Chiquita CEO Fernando Aguirre. Read (and view the interview) here.  

• Here's the entry about the lawsuits that Holder and his law firm, Covington and Burling, are defending Chiquita against. 

• The families of U.S. victims of the AUC aren't the only ones suing Chiquita. Similar cases have been brought by 400 Colombian families. My November, 2007 entry on is here.

So what to do about this?

Silence isn't an option. Anyone who reads this blog knows where my political sympathies lie. I was, and remain, and Obama supporter. I know that the Washington merry-go-round - and especially when it comes to attorneys - makes for strange bedfellows. I don't know if I'd excuse the fact that Holder represented Chiquita in negotiating the terms of the fine it paid to the Justice Department. But I know that representing the company against the families of the AUC victims is inexcusable. As my colleague Jason Glaser - whose upcoming documentary, "The Affected," directly illustrates how dangerous the lives of banana workers in Latin America are, even when they don't have to deal with terrorism - notes, "isn't it about time we have a lawyer in [the U.S. attorney general's] position from a plaintiff's firm [italics mine], someone who may have at one time served the interests of a mammal as opposed to a corporate entity?"

The liberal/progressive community is going to do a lot of hand-wringing about this. It needs to do more. We elected Obama - and we need to keep him honest. To fail to do so would be to write him the same kind of blank check that supporters of the previous administration handed over to the officials they elected. Holder owes us an explanation, though I don't see how any words from him could be convincing - especially to those in Latin America whose trust we have already lost. Getting Chiquita to agree  to agree to full disclosure and restitution would be an appropriate way for Holder to spend his remaining weeks in the private sector - and a good start.

So here's what to do.

First, learn about Holder - not just about his actions regarding Chiquita, but his entire career. Decide for yourself whether he deserves a pass. Then, use the network - the one we used so successfully to get Obama elected. Blog, Twitter, and email the links about Holder that you think are most important, good or bad (my Twitter handle is "soulbarn", if you want to follow my posts.) The point is to make sure the information gets out there. The most important thing we can do right now is establish, early, that transparency is one of the things we voted for on November 4th.  Our ability to spread this information quickly, and spark a public debate about it - rather than use this information simply in a destructive way - is key.  

Here are some good places to find out more about Holder, and to discuss the nomination. I invite you to add more links in the comment thread.

• Dan Kovalik, in the Huffington Post (11/18/08), not mincing words. Headline: "Lawyer for Chiquita in Colombia Death Squad Case May be Next U.S. Attorney General." 

• Discussion thread at Democratic Underground forums. 

• Slate's "Bananas of Mass Destruction" (2007), including Chiquita's court filings. 

• "The Trouble With Eric Holder," from The Nation, 11/18/08. Not just bananas - Holder, according to the story, also has some Patriot Act issues. 

• "Preliminary Facts and Thoughts About Eric Holder," from Salon, 11/18/08. A still-being-updated, roundup on Holder's dealings, positive and negative. 

Do you enjoy reading the Banana Blog? Consider making a donation to help keep the flow of banana news coming. Or buy my book.

Photo of the Week

Kooky fruitmobile, from Funstasticus.

This is the craziest fruit truck ever. Where was the image shot? Hard to say. Judging from the apparent ethnicity of the driver and the guy watching, it could be Latin America, or it could be the Philippines, or somewhere else. The other items on the truck - pineapples, squash, sweet potato - could be grown in either place. Check the banana trees growing behind the house to the left. The image is from the Funtasticus website.

Follow-up: After examining the photo, my Dad notes that "just above the right tire are some daikon, and about a foot above the scale is a Durian(?). If these IDs are correct, it is Asia/ Philippines. Although daikon can be grown anywhere, I am not aware of Durian growing anywhere besides Asia, Philippines, Indonesia."

Good one, Dad!

Can't narrow the Asia part down, but if we arbitrarily make it a choice between Indonesia and the Philippines, then the Philippines gets the nod. Why? In the Philippines, traffic keeps right - and the driver sits on the left, according to Wikipedia. In Indonesia, roadside custom is the opposite. To the extent that this overburdened little truck is being "driven" - the driver seems to be stepping out of his compartment, and it may very well be to push - it seems to be happening from the left side.

Online Course in Banana Quarantine Techniques

Philippine Lacatan banana tree at market - from the extensive and fascinating Market Manilla website. The Lacatan is the Philippine's "comfort food" banana, and one of the world's most delicious.

One of the most frustrating elements of fighting banana disease (or any disease) is that quarantine actually works - but only in theory. For over a century, attempts to isolate infected bananas from healthy ones have been attempted, and failed. These efforts have, in fact, generally made things worse, because they've often been accompanied by denial on the part of banana producers that the problem needs to be attacked on other levels, as well (or denial that quarantine is mostly ineffective.)

But clean farming can make a difference: it can boost crop yields, and slow the spread of disease - crucially important to subsistence farmers, for whom even cutting a percentage of loss can be lifesaving. And there have been considerable successes in some recent quarantine programs. Pakistani officials are now offering a pilot program in managing banana diseases that's different from traditional efforts, which have usually involved in the field training. This one is all-electronic. In my book, I describe how ambitious field programs in Pakistan failed in the early part of this decade. I don't know whether on-site instruction works better than these self-paced versions - but the Philippines is both a banana paradise (with huge plantations and breeding variety) and a center of banana disease, so the effort is absolutely necessary.

Here's how the course introduces itself to first-time participants:

"Have you experienced tremendous yield loss in your banana due to diseases? Have you tried several methods to combat these, yet all proved ineffective? Well, worry no more for you just found the right niche that’ll shun away your farming woes. Congratulations! You are about to start the journey towards achieving a high quality, disease-free banana. Welcome to the online course on Managing Common Diseases in Banana!"

I guess every school needs cheerleaders. Here's a direct link (registration required) to the nine-part program, which is called "Managing Common Disease in Banana."

Bananas Turn Blue When Ripening

Image copyright Wiley-VCH 2008

Only Under UV light - from a degradation in chlorophyll, according to a study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie. Cool picture; read more at physorg.com.