Bananas are globally one of the most commonly eaten fruit, not just in the tropics where they are usually grown, but in regions like North America and Europe. However, the way bananas are produced and exported gives an insight into a number of global issues.
As writer and journalist Peter Chapman reminds us in his book about on the history of the banana industry and United Fruit Company in particular, while bananas feature in many jokes, “no one laughs at the banana in its areas of origin. It is too serious a business, on which jobs and lives depend.” (Jungle Capitalists, Canongate Books, 2007)