Bananas

The banana industry, though profitable, has caused deforestation distaster among the Central American countries that grow the crop. Though the market used to be mostly small family-run plantations, recently larger companies (such as Dole and Chiquita) have moved into Central America and begun taking over the industry. Since fruit companies began mass producing bananas they are grown as a mono-crop with no genetic diversity. This is an easy target disease and harmful pathogens which have historically caused great damage to the industry. When a crop is attacked by a disease and no longer productive the companies then opt to move the entire plantation to a new location, therefore resulting in the clearing of even more rainforest where the banana trees can use the rich in nutrient soil. Needless to say, this is a very inefficient way of producing the fruit and the disease-ridden plantations are left abandoned and not available for any other use. The use of pesticides and other chemicals by the large fruit companies are additional harm to both the fruit and people who will eventually eat them, as well as the workers at the plantation that are forced to be exposed to the hazardous chemicals on a daily basis.

It will be interesting to visit such a plantation in a few weeks and really get an idea of how destructive the banana production really is to the environment.