Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World PDF
Preview Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
Banana The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World Dan Koeppel HUDSON STREET PRESS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published by Hudson Street Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright © Dan Koeppel, 2008 All rights reserved REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Koeppel, Dan. Banana : the fate of the fruit that changed the world / Dan Koeppel. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN: 1-4295-9325-3 1. Bananas. I. Title. SB379.B2K66 2008 634'.772—dc22 2007038398 Page ii: Originally published in The Banana: Its History, Cultivation, and Place Among Staple Foods by Philip K. Reynolds. Page 5: Courtauld Institute Galleries, London; published under Wikimedia Creative Commons license. Page 11: Photo by Alan Lakritz. Licensed under Creative Commons. Original image at www.Flickr.com/photos/35188692@N00/133805120/. Page 54: Courtesy Ann Lovell. Page 61: Author’s collection. Page 61: Author’s collection. Page 118: Courtesy Ann Lovell. Page 163: Jeffrey Weiss. Page 163: Jeffrey Weiss. Page 165: Jeffrey Weiss. Page 203: Library of Congress. Page 209: Dan Koeppel. Page 242: Jeffrey Weiss. Set in Van Dijck with Walbaum MT and Bureau Eagle Book • Designed by Sabrina Bowers Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. PUBLISHER’SNOTE The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized elec tronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. To Kalee, with love CONTENTS The World’s Most Humble Fruit xi PART I: Family Trees CHAPTER 1: And God Created the Banana 3 CHAPTER 2: A Banana in Your Pocket? 9 CHAPTER 3: The First Farm 15 CHAPTER 4: All in the Family 20 PART II: Expansion CHAPTER 5: Asia 27 CHAPTER 6: Pacific 34 CHAPTER 7: Africa 40 CHAPTER 8: Americas 45 viii CONTENTS PART III: Corn Flakes and Coup d’Etats CHAPTER 9: Bringing Bananas Home 51 CHAPTER 10: Taming the Wild 57 CHAPTER 11: Why Banana Peels Are Funny 63 CHAPTER 12: Sam the Banana Man 71 CHAPTER 13: No Bananas Today 77 CHAPTER 14: Man Makes a Banana 80 CHAPTER 15: The Banana Massacre 84 CHAPTER 16: The Inhuman Republics 90 CHAPTER 17: Straightening Out the Business 93 PART IV: Never Enough CHAPTER 18: Knowledge Is Powerless 99 CHAPTER 19: Pure Science 103 CHAPTER 20: A Second Front 106 CHAPTER 21: No Respite 111 CHAPTER 22: Brand Name Bananas 116 CHAPTER 23: Guatemala 119 PART V: Good-bye, Michel CHAPTER 24: Cavendish 135 CHAPTER 25: Falling Apart 142 CHAPTER 26: Embracing the New 148 CHAPTER 27: Chronic Injury 152 CHAPTER 28: Banana Plus Banana 157 CHAPTER 29: A Savior? 166 CHAPTER 30: Golden Child 176 PART VI: A New Banana CHAPTER 31: A Long Way from Panama 185 CHAPTER 32: Know Your Enemies 194 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER 33: A Banana Crossroads 201 CHAPTER 34: Frankenbanana 211 CHAPTER 35: Still the Octopus? 218 CHAPTER 36: The Way Out 228 A Banana Time Line 243 Bibliography 261 Acknowledgments 265 Index 269
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