Introduction
Banana: The fate of the fruit that changed the world is a spellbinding detective story that lays bare the mystery, endangered fate, and myth of the world’s most lowly fruit. “Banana Republic was a term which decades ago referred to the developing nations that sorely depended on a single cash crop, mostly bananas and which were governed by corrupt government’s.1 Currently the term has somehow become exceptionally suitable to the United States although the country depends neither on other single cash crops, or bananas. But despite the degree of importance the United States government places on its banana interests, the country varies in one astonishing way from the Banana Republics of the past because it other cash crops other than bananas” Koeppel.1
The term banana republic is a profit-making venture for getting profit by involvement between the favored monopolies and the government, where the profits resulting from the private misuse of public lands is private property, while the debts incurred are public liability. This kind of disproportion in the economy tends to reduce the national currency to become a devalued paper-money,and as a result the nation becomes disqualified for international development credit and remains restricted by the irregular economic growth of the town or nation. In this kind of kleptocracy government being ruled by thieves, it comprises powerful government member of staff who take advantage of their positions to embezzle, bribe and fraud for personal achievement of the money that they come across. This “results in deficit, repaid by the indigenous workers, who earn money, instead of making money,” Koeppel.1 “In this kind of a situation, the government is unaccountable to the nation’s obligations and the country’s private division corruption operates the banana republic because of the foregn exploitation” Koeppel.1 “This result in making the nation’s legislature for sale and the government functions as a ceremonial one. This money-minded group of corrupt people, ends up fleecing the banking organization, and the trunk of the national tree is permitted to rot and crash,” (Koeppel, 2008).1
The role banana played in the USA
The banana played a pivotal role in empire building in the United States, as it concentrated on banana sales to citizens as to most citizens; the simple yellow fruit is eaten more than any other fruit including the oranges and apples. However, according to many people, the banana is just a banana, but in other areas of the world, this fruit is what has kept millions of citizens from dying. Although it seems like just a plain fruit, the banana is surprisingly mystifying and not a soul seems to discern where bananas originated from or how they evolved. “Affluent culture knowledge envelops the fruit, and in primeval paraphrases of the Bible apple consumed by Eve is in point of fact a banana” Koeppel.1 It is interesting to note that the whole Central American countries have risen or fallen because of the banana wars. This simple banana fruit however is not grown in the European countries and since the fruit is abundant in the American and Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East nations, the countries depend sorely on them for importing the high protein content fruits. The United States of America has constantly complained about the European Union’s policy of importing its banana from former colonies in the small countries such as Dominica Republic and the Eastern Caribbean.2 The chief reason for the U.S. complaints is that the European Union gives preferential treatment through a quota system to the Eastern Caribbean countries as a guarantee for continuing to support them. Unfortunately for the U.S. the Dollar Bananas grown in the Central American nations which are in the control of its marketing companies, are cheaper in quality than those in the Eastern Caribbean countries which have inferior land (Jack, 1971).2 At one time, the United States of American had to take its case against the European Union quota system at the World Trade Organization (WTO) fro arbitration (Schlesinger, 1983)3 The U.S. won the claim because of the fact that the European Union’s policy violated the WTO customs in that it is illegal under its rules to place a quota on imports from a particular region such as Eastern Caribbean where the EU had guaranteed the quota system and imported their bananas from. The banana republic project in the U.S differs from that of the European Union in that according to the WTO rules, as influenced by the United States of America, it is fundamentally immaterial that the purpose of the EU’s penchant for the Eastern Caribbean bananas is for the beneficent cause to supply some minimum remedial assistance for its exceedingly poor former colonies (Jack, 1971).2
Nevertheless, if the U.S became successful in ousting the EU from importing the Eastern Caribbean bananas, more than 200,000 farmers stand to lose their livelihoods’ where 30 to 50 per cent unemployment is the standard. It is interesting to note that the Central American bananas are produced on big industrial scale farms which provide work for big great numbers of relatively poorly under-paid workers.3 As things are now, under the WTO rules, the U.S. has the right to impose counter sanctions against the EU banana imports in industries totally unrelated to the disagreement they had about the quota system. Whereas the banana fruit has been researched and written about in previous books, Koeppel’s version of its history travel routes, marketing strategies and discovery is unprejudiced and well written. Banana: The fate of the fruit that changed the world is an eye-opening disclosure of the true cost of a seemingly inoffensive American staple fruit. It shines an unsympathetic illumination on capitalism without being reduced into a polemic (Schlesinger, 1983).3 The reader will never again look at a banana without being contemplative about its sheer costs and incredible journey.
Bibliography
1Banana: The Fruit that Changed the World by Dan Koeppel
2Jack Rollins & Charles H. “Bananas, Joffe Productions” MGM, 1971.
3Schlesinger, S. “Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala,” NY Anchor Books, OUP 1983.
