bepah

Read this link......I cannot add anything to it...

Japan Goes Bananas For New Diet - Yahoo! News

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John Case
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Bananaman88

Interesting, but like all fads, will probably pass soon.

asacomm

Every super markets have been changed to GREEN grocery where YELLOW
bananas disappeared because of the ridiculous fad.
It's almost likely that we have no choice than buying green bananas and
wait for a couple of days until they are rippened.

turtile

The diet doesn't make much sense at all. One banana has pretty much energy.

Get some ethylene.

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harveyc

That's it...I've got to try it! LOL

Costco had been out of bananas a couple of times over the past couple of months and last week they were a bit higher at $.44/pound. Is it due to disease or this new fad???

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bepah

Increase in banana prices is directly tied to fuel costs.....

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Patty in Wisc

I don't see how they can make ppl lose weight. I would gain. There is so much sugar in them, my blood sugar goes up & then drops down & I have to eat again.
Maybe ppl are shoving them up exhaust pipes LOL.

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

Tog Tan

This will sure get alot of small holders in trouble later when they increase their production and the fad dies out. Well, another new pointer for helping the recession.

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damaclese

Harvey i think one of the reasons we all are seeing Banana sold out is that Dole and Chiquita both are having troubles with production do to the panama blight that is spreading throw their plantations from what i read a couple of moths ago in the wall street journal they were predicting possible shortages until are two famous growers get there act together and come up with a plan to eradicate Panama disease in there crops

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harveyc

Pauly, I've thought that might be possible, but I've never seen an absence of them at the grocery store where we normally shop.

John, I don't think that fuel costs account for more than a few cents of the increase, so I imagine it also has something to do with supplies. I'm just guessing, but cargo ships are the cheapest means of transporting goods. I'm estimating we can truck something 3,000 miles for less than $.10/pound so shipping bananas here to California should be less. Plus, we're just looking for the increase from earlier in the year when I could buy them for $.29/pound. But your point does remind me of how there has been an absence in the news about large drops in grain prices in the past couple of months. Still, food prices at the consumer level aren't coming down. There were some articles out on that today. Here is one of them: Falling oil prices? Food won't necessarily follow - CNN.com

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damaclese

i would love to be Abel to get Bananas for those prices they don't even sell them by the Lb here its always price per bunch and a typical hand of Bananas here in Vegas it ruffly $2.50 Grocers here in Vegas have a sort of what ever the market will bare kinda mentality thats why almost ever one here eats out its actually cheaper A Gal of milk its almost 5$ here I'm pretty sure the food riots will start here first!

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chong

Have you ever tasted a banana that was forced to ripen with ethylene? I have. My Aunt was a banana wholesaler at the Divisoria Market in Manila, who received 4 shiploads of bananas a week from Davao in southern Philippines. Some of her competitors have, but she never used ethylene to force the bananas to ripen. They taste awful. Sometime the middle of the pulp is still hard and putrid. But they sure look ripe!

momoese

I ripen bananas from my garden with apples in a paper bag on top the fridge and they taste great. Isn't this the same thing as using Ethylene?

Bananaman88

Dole and Chiquita will never, in my opinion, eradicate Panama Disease. From what I have read, they won't even hardly educate their workers in proper sanitation techiniques. Even if they did, it would still be almost impossible to eradicate a disease that is so prevalent. What they need to do is diversify the types of bananas they grow and market. I know this brings up all sorts of issues with certain types not handling shipping and transport well and educating the American (and world-wide) consumer, but I truly think that is the long-term answer. Monocultures are never good thing.

bepah

One economic law is that "Prices rise like a rocket and come down like a feather" in the world of commodities. We have seen this in today's gasoline prices. Oil was over double today's price just a month ago. Gasoline prices went up with the rise in oil prices. Now that oil has corrected to half of what it once was, gasoline prices have also adjusted, but not to the level they were when oil was at the price it is today.

These prices, especially in diesel, are causing many truckers (if you can believe the hype) to operate at a loss if they deadhead their routes. So, while waiting for a return load they are delivering fewer bananas and with the reduced supply, the prices go up with constant demand. If a 'shortage' of bananas is reported, the reaction (to buy bananas before they are all gone) causes the higher prices and empty shelves. (Remember the toilet paper scare a few years ago? The tomato scare this year?)

While the primary reason that oil is dropping due to 'demand destruction', the refiners and wholesalers need to 'catch up' on thier profits when prices were rising. When prices rise, especially when the demand for product is psychological, producer's margins shrink. They slowly may get back to where they were, but I would not count on it, unless we go into a true and major business retraction. With the impending inflation to come in a few years, we can expect prices to rise as well. As an agricultural customer, are you able to purchase untaxed fuel? I know a few gents in the valley that can and do.

This topic is no longer about banana insanity and probably should be moved off this thread........

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