Organic Banana Variety in Supermarkets?

andy17 · 06-29-2013, 03:54 PM

Hey everyone,
Just a food for thought kind of question. The organic bananas I've seen sold in local supermarkets look just like the non-organic cavendishes, but considering the diseases facing cavendish plantations today, I'm not sure if the best organic practices and pesticides could counter them. Does anyone know if these are also cavendish type fruit? Thanks!

caliboy1994 · 06-29-2013, 07:28 PM

I've had them before. They certainly look and taste like Cavendish to me. The farming practices they use must be different to help prevent disease.

sunfish · 06-29-2013, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy17

Hey everyone,
Just a food for thought kind of question. The organic bananas I've seen sold in local supermarkets look just like the non-organic cavendishes, but considering the diseases facing cavendish plantations today, I'm not sure if the best organic practices and pesticides could counter them. Does anyone know if these are also cavendish type fruit? Thanks!

I imagine the organic are grown on a smaller scale an any disease is easier to control. What disease ?

sunfish · 06-29-2013, 07:30 PM

sunfish · 06-29-2013, 07:33 PM

Chiquita® Organic Bananas - 100% USDA Organic Bananas

LilRaverBoi · 06-29-2013, 10:51 PM

From the looks of them, they are the same kind as regular store bananas (gran nain). They might use some other sort of disease/pest prevention/treatment other than conventional methods. Just cause it says 'organic' doesn't mean they don't put SOMETHING on there to keep pests at bay....just not conventional chemicals.

PR-Giants · 06-29-2013, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunfish

Chiquita® Organic Bananas - 100% USDA Organic Bananas

PR-Giants · 06-29-2013, 11:43 PM

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

sunfish · 06-29-2013, 11:46 PM

They make it easy

Richard · 06-30-2013, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy17

Hey everyone,
Just a food for thought kind of question. The organic bananas I've seen sold in local supermarkets look just like the non-organic cavendishes, but considering the diseases facing cavendish plantations today, I'm not sure if the best organic practices and pesticides could counter them. Does anyone know if these are also cavendish type fruit? Thanks!

Certified Organic does not mean what you think it does.

venturabananas · 06-30-2013, 11:18 AM

They are the standard Cavendish varieties. There is a good discussion of the pros and cons of "conventional" versus "organic" farming methods for these bananas in "Banana: the fate of the fruit that changed the world" by Dan Koeppel. My summary is that the "organic" bananas at our supermarkets are not necessarily better for you and are probably worse for the environment where they are grown. That's because rather than combating the standard banana diseases with fungicides, the big companies that put bananas in our supermarkets just destroy more rainforest to create a new disease-free field.

andy17 · 06-30-2013, 12:21 PM

Thanks everyone for the replies! I appreciate it! I guess the biggest question was if cavendish is struggling already with powerful commerical chemicals, if it was possible they could be grown without them in most places (black sigatoka, yellow sigatoka, cigar rot etc). There are certainly organic chemicals that can be used, but wasn't sure if they'd have enough firepower to keep the diseases at bay. That wouldn't be a concern at least for a time, however, if they started with virgin land as Mark was saying. That's really interesting.

Nicolas Naranja · 06-30-2013, 04:08 PM

A lot of your organic bananas will be grown in drier areas. The big places for it right now are Azua, Valverdi and Montecristi, Domican Republic and Piura, Peru. These are relatively dry areas that have irrigation available. Keep in mind that 40" rain per year in the tropics is "dry"

06-29-2013, 03:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
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06-29-2013, 07:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
caliboy1994 <div style="font-style: italic;"><div style="font-style: italic;"></div></div> caliboy1994's Photo Gallery Location: SFV, California Find me on the map! Zone: USDA zone 10a; Sunset zone 18/19 Name: Andreas Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 2,301 BananaBucks : 261,934 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 1,474 Times Was Thanked 2,196 Times in 1,148 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 236 Times	Re: Organic Banana Variety in Supermarkets? I've had them before. They certainly look and taste like Cavendish to me. The farming practices they use must be different to help prevent disease. __________________ "The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." ~ Masanobu Fukuoka Find me on linktree here as Solarpunk Farmer: https://linktr.ee/solarpunkfarmer

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06-29-2013, 11:46 PM	#9 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,015,605 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,592 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Organic Banana Variety in Supermarkets? They make it easy

06-30-2013, 11:18 AM	#11 (permalink)
venturabananas venturabananas's Photo Gallery Location: Ventura, CA Find me on the map! Zone: 10 Name: Mark Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 2,845 BananaBucks : 245,741 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 1,752 Times Was Thanked 3,969 Times in 1,713 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 39 Times	Re: Organic Banana Variety in Supermarkets? They are the standard Cavendish varieties. There is a good discussion of the pros and cons of "conventional" versus "organic" farming methods for these bananas in "Banana: the fate of the fruit that changed the world" by Dan Koeppel. My summary is that the "organic" bananas at our supermarkets are not necessarily better for you and are probably worse for the environment where they are grown. That's because rather than combating the standard banana diseases with fungicides, the big companies that put bananas in our supermarkets just destroy more rainforest to create a new disease-free field. __________________

06-30-2013, 12:21 PM	#12 (permalink)
andy17 Location: Northern Alabama Zone: 8a Name: Andy Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 308 BananaBucks : 106,710 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 269 Times Was Thanked 171 Times in 115 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 20 Times	Re: Organic Banana Variety in Supermarkets? Thanks everyone for the replies! I appreciate it! I guess the biggest question was if cavendish is struggling already with powerful commerical chemicals, if it was possible they could be grown without them in most places (black sigatoka, yellow sigatoka, cigar rot etc). There are certainly organic chemicals that can be used, but wasn't sure if they'd have enough firepower to keep the diseases at bay. That wouldn't be a concern at least for a time, however, if they started with virgin land as Mark was saying. That's really interesting. __________________ "Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." --Francis Bacon

06-30-2013, 04:08 PM	#13 (permalink)
Nicolas Naranja Muck bananas Nicolas Naranja 's Photo Gallery Location: Pahokee, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 10 Name: Nick Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2,217 BananaBucks : 475,923 Feedback: 7 / 100% Said "Thanks" 66 Times Was Thanked 5,665 Times in 1,563 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 7 Times	Re: Organic Banana Variety in Supermarkets? A lot of your organic bananas will be grown in drier areas. The big places for it right now are Azua, Valverdi and Montecristi, Domican Republic and Piura, Peru. These are relatively dry areas that have irrigation available. Keep in mind that 40" rain per year in the tropics is "dry" __________________ Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

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