Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World

Dan Koeppel was driven to write this book after reading an article in a journal describing diseases that the banana is facing, such as Panama Disease, Bunchy Top and Black Sigatoka. Upon his world wide research quest, Koeppel discovers not only the banana empire's ugly past but also a possibly more despairing future.
Did you know that Americans consume more bananas than apples and oranges combined? And that bananas are the world's 4th leading crop behind wheat, corn and rice? And we pretty much eat only one type of banana, the Cavendish, and it is threatened by diseases that can wipe out entire plantations.
But to understand where the banana is going, we must understand where its been. And that history of United Fruit and Standard Fruit in Central America is ugly, violent and embarrassing. Backed by the US government, these companies were not only allowed to violate labor agreements, but take down unfriendly governments. It would be nice to say that this doesn't happen today , but these companies are driven to continue to offer cheap bananas at your local supermarket, damn the labor, political and environmental impacts.
On the other hand, the health of bananas isn't always about whether or not we in middle America can eat a banana with our breakfast. Bananas are a crucial factor in the diet of many areas in Africa. If a solution isn't found for the diseases the Cavendish banana faces, we could be looking a humanitarian disaster.
Fans of micro-histories like Salt, Cod and Curry, will enjoy Banana too. I would also recommend this to anyone interested in the history of food or thinking about where food comes from may enjoy this book too, as well as anyone interested in the history of Banana Republics or Latin American history.