Attack of the Mutant Bananas

[Originally posted February 13, 2005]

When I lived in Puerto Rico, I often ate fresh fruits including fresh bananas and pineapple. The bananas grew right outside my front door on my banana trees. I also had mangos and papaya. Coconuts were free for the taking on thee beaches. Pineapples were available across the road at the grower's food stand right next to his pineapple field. If I wanted I could just have gone into the fields and taken some pineapple. The grower was OK with that. However, he would say, you need to be careful of the centipedes (12 inch long little beasties) because they are poisonous.

Until I ate these locally grown fruits, I had no idea that fresh fruits, bananas and pineapple could taste so good. The fruits I ate in the continental US were nothing like these. These pineapples were always sweet and juicy. I had to cut them up in a bowl to capture the cup of sweet pineapple juice that would always drip out. The bananas tasted, well, like bananas. Not the chalky bland versions I was used to in the US. but sweet banana. Oh, and the pineapples were usually 10-20 pounds each. I never knew they grew that big.

Local produce like this, I was told, never left the island. The stuff that was shipped north was produce that was harvested early, before they ripened and got too big for the canning factories. And if the produce was harvested at the time when they were at their best, they could not be shipped fast enough to reach markets. They would rot in the holds of shipping containers.

After traveling around the Caribbean and other parts of world, I later discovered that fruits obtained locally were very different from the fruits available in markets. Spanish and Israeli oranges were totally unlike their Californian and Floridian counterparts; sweet, juicy and expensive. Locally bought Florida citrus picked at their prime was unlike the ones shipped north that were picked while still green.

When I was kid, fresh fruit was a seasonal treat. The availability of fresh produce depended on how far the produce could be shipped without spoiling and whether the produce was locally grown. Fresh oranges were only available at certain times of the year. Most oranges grown, at least 90%, were destined for the most transportable and storage mode of juice. Even today, most oranges are intended for juice products. Bananas were rarely available because they spoiled during shipping and could not be canned. Pineapples were only available in cans. New York City residents were limited in what produce was available. It was almost always locally grown. Does anyone remember why New Jersey was called the 'Garden State'? Is is because pre-suburban New Jersey was filled with produce farms that supplied fresh produce to the entire Northeast. Upstate New York was, and still is, a prime source of apples, grapes, and other tree fruits for the region. All that changed with two historic events; the development in the U.S. of long-range transportation techniques and the development of hybrid and genetically engineered foods.

I do not want to dwell on transportation at this time other than to remark that some fruits have their ripening retarded by cold gas storage and other similar techniques to allow long distance shipping over longer periods of time without spoilage. Fruits are picked before they fully develop, before they sweeten. Some fruits are artificially ripened at the terminus but this technique does not add flavor or sweetness. Modern fruits look good, ship well, but do not necessarily taste good. Tomatoes for example are sprayed with the chemical ethylene to artificially ripen them. Many people complain about the taste of these tomatoes.

Fruits have also been subject to a long-term hybridization process. Some hybrids have been developed to make a better fruit. Many however, have been developed to make a more transportable fruit. In fruit circles this is sometimes known as the 'Heirloom vs Hybrid' debate.

Traditionally and historically, fruits and vegetables have been breed for improvement from generation to generation by farmers by techniques such as selecting and planting only seeds from strong and productive plants or grafting. This is 'heirloom' farming and takes decades, centuries, millennia to accomplish. Practically all modern food plants and animals have been breed this way over thousands of years (Read Jared Diamond's book 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' for more information). In the 19th century, professional plant breeders began to make deliberate crosses between varieties of fruits and veggies. This is known as 'hybridization'. Hybridization changed food production in the world and, for the most part, quelled the fear that human population was outstripping the ability of food producers to provide enough food to sustain it.

Hybridization has a few interesting qualities. First, it has shortened the time needed to produce a new breed of food to decades. It took thousands of years for humans to successful produce the modern corn plant and wheat plant. Hybridization produced new breeds in a matter of decades.

Second, hybridization is not always successful and the results may not be apparent for a long time. One of the first 20th century successes was a hybrid tomato which tasted good but made a lousy sauce. In the 19th century, a mutant apple was discovered, presumedly from a lightning struck tree, and was grafted onto other trees. The red delicious apple was born. Further hybridization keep the nice appearance of this variety at the expense of taste. I don't buy red delicious apples any more.

Lastly, and most importantly, modern hybrids are startling uniform. Breed for appearance, pest resistance, and herbicide tolerance, modern fruits are genetically similar. Heirloom fruits are varied and diverse. The problem here is that genetic uniformity means that a species can be wiped out quickly by a new plant disease. Hybrids also require human assistance to reproduce. Most do not reproduce by pollination but must be planted with manufactured seed stock. If you think this is a minor risk, think again. The potato famine in 1845 Ireland was bad because the potato was not genetically diverse and had no disease resistance.

You also may be unaware that the banana is an endangered species. Fully 50% of each year's banana crop is discarded due to disease. The modern banana's resistance to disease has been breed out over the many generations of hybridizations over centuries of experimentation. Banana plantations have been devastated by black sigatoka and Panama disease, two types of fungus infestations that are devastating banana plantations in several regions around the world. Modern bananas have been breed for size and shipping. The bananas I had around my house in Puerto Rico are not the same breed you routinely find in American supermarkets. My bananas were small, 1/3 to 1/2 the size of store banana. My bananas were heirloom bananas, not hybrids. Unless a fix is found, the banana, as you know it is the supermarket is doomed. Not surprisingly, a fix is in the works. This fix is a result of the next generation of foodstuff manipulation known as 'genetic modification' - GM or GMO for short, or sometimes GA (genetically altered).

Most Americans are unaware how much genetically altered foods have entered the food supply. As we enter the 21st century, Americans are, for the first time, consuming foods that were not developed naturally. Genetically modified foods have invisibly made their way into the marketplace with most people totally unaware of it. Like hybrids, GM produce is breed for appearance, shipping, disease resistance, and pesticide tolerance. Unlike hybrids however, a GM product can reach the market in a matter of only a few years. The majority of foodstuffs that Americans eat in restaurants or buy in supermarkets have some genetically altered ingredients. These GM foods and super hybrids have reached the marketplace in record time without any significant long-term studies on the possible effect they may have on health, on environment, or, more importantly, on future food production. No one really knows if these products are safe. Labeling is not required on any products or produce to help the consumer tell if the item is natural, a hybrid or genetically modified. You may be aware that fresh produce has a sticker on it with what is known as a PLU code; a four digit number that identifies the product for cashiers. You might not be aware that the code also tells you if the product is organic or GM. Some PLU's have 5 digits. If the first digit is a '9', the product is organically grown. If it has an '8', it is a genetically modified product.

Since 1992, the FDA has declared that engineered produce is no different from regular food. As a result, the biofoods industry has transformed American agriculture with no regulation, oversight or public awareness. This is bad science and bad policy.

Most people are unaware that almost 25% of U.S. farmlands now grow GM foodstuffs. This includes 55% of all soybeans, 35% of all corn. 30% of all dairy cows are injected with a genetically altered growth hormone (BGH). Over half of all processed foods, including margarine, bread and most animal products are genetically altered or made using genetically altered foods. Most GM foods are those that use corn, soy, dairy products. Many of these GM products, corn and soy, are produced here in Cedar Rapids.

GM altered produce include potatoes, papaya, tomatoes, and squash, most corn and soy products such as corn syrup, popcorn, breads, cereals, margarine, tofu, ice cream, soymilk, peanut butter, candies, and so on. The list gets larger monthly.

Bananas have not yet been GM'ed. New disease resistant hybrids are currently being tested in Hondoras; test varieties FHIA 17 and FHIA 23, which seem to be better able to resist the fungus that is killing off banana plantations. However, bananas, as well as apples, grapes, strawberries, pineapples, and melons are all currently under GM development

I am not one to criticize genetically altered foods claiming that their consumption will turn us all into mutants. However I do believe there is a danger. To put it simply, I do not trust the government. GM foods need to be carefully regulated and tested and more research needs to be done before more products are released into the marketplace. There is already plenty of antidotal evidence that suggests further study is prudent.

Firstly, the development of hybrid food products took centuries and sometimes problems were found. It is irresponsible to allow super fast development of GM food without using the test of time to evaluate its effects on health.

Secondly, it would be unwise to limit the genetic makeup of food products. Biology teaches us that survival is a product of genetic diversity is nothing else. Limiting a products diversity may be suicidal.

I personally would rather eat an heirloom blemished fruit that tastes good rather than a perfect looking so-so version that is indistinguishable from the plastic fruits you buy at K-Mart. Hybridization has changed the nature of food grown in this country. GM will change it even more. If you are not concerned about GM then think about this - animals in the wild and domesticated animals give a pass to feeding on GM altered plants. Perhaps we should find out why.