My conversations with Ticans about
this week’s blog were particularly interesting.
I discussed the first few questions with my Tica family, specifically my
mom, and they seemed to hold true to the theme of bananas/plantains in a
dietary regard. However, when it came
time to discuss the way that banana cultivation has affected the countries
history, my Spanish teacher was able to give me some interesting insight. I started off by asking my mom how the banana
and plantain differ, and she gave me the obvious answer that one is the fruit
and one in the vegetable. From there we
discussed the differences in the way the two are used in the Tican diet. It was not new information when my mom told
me that plantains are cooked, and can be cooked in many different ways, and
that bananas are usually eaten fresh or in dessert type foods. From being here for three months I have
personally been able to experience the many different ways plantains can be
cooked, fresh bananas, and bananas in desserts such as banana bread. Bananas and plantains are all over the Tican
cuisine. When I asked my family if
bananas are and important fruit here they replied, “¡Por supuesto! Que comerlos
todos los días.” This surprised me that
my family was focused on the dietary role of the banana instead of the impact
of its production on the country. My mom
only briefly mentioned the fact that banana production helps add to the
country’s income.
When it came time to ask the questions about how banana
cultivation is tied to Costa Rica’s history, my translations were not
sufficient enough to allow my Tica mom to catch on, so I asked Silvia, my
Spanish teacher, and what she had to say was very interesting. She said that bananas, and their production,
were very important to the history of Costa Rica. She said that in the past it was one of the
biggest income crops that the country had to offer the world market. She also said that many people came here to work
on the banana plantations. As for the
plantations themselves she said that they caused a few different problems. One of the problems was that the massive
amounts needed for banana plantations could cause a small farmer or family to
lose some of their land. She also said
that another problem was that because they are only grown in specific parts of
the country. Therefore, if someone
needed a job it was not uncommon that they would have to move to where the
banana plantations were for a few months to work, and then come back home on
the off season. Thinking about this I
realized that would be a very stressful lifestyle, especially with the family closeness
that we see throughout the country. I am
sure it would have been hard to leave your family behind for a few months, even
if that is the only way you could support them.
As our conversation with Silvia progressed she began talking about the
infrastructure that was set up when banana were beginning to be produced in the
country. She said that the
infrastructure was necessary at the time, but that now it causes problems. This is because the areas that the
infrastructure still exists in can be difficult to manage, and is not really
worth it anymore. She said that those
areas have to take extra steps to work around it, which can take time and
money. Silvia went on to express her
belief that while bananas were very important in the past, and have definitely
played a huge role in the development of Costa Rica, she believes that they
have lost some of their importance. She
knows that bananas and plantains are still important in the Tican diet, but she
believes that economically they have definitely been outshined by other
industries, specifically tourism. This
conversation helped to show me that most Ticans are aware of how important
banana production has been for their country, but it would not surprise me if
many people agreed with Silvia on the idea that bananas have lessened in
importance in the countries economy.
I hate that I was not able to get my Tica family to
understand the questions about banana cultivation’s impact on the country
because I am very interested to know if they believe that the banana/plantain
is not only important to their diets, but also their countries development and
income. However, from the combination of
my conversations with my Tica family and Silvia I was able to learn quite a bit
about the role of the banana/plantain in the Costa Rica. It was interesting that Silvia knew so much
about the impact that banana cultivation has had on the country. Beyond just the impact she knew a lot about
the process and the disadvantages of the production. This made me realize that before our readings
and this conversation, I never really thought about how the banana was grown,
or how it is delivered to us. However,
this conversation made me realize that producing countries are most likely more
aware of the negative aspects of the process because it directly affects their
lives. This really made me think about Banana Cultures and the challenge that Soluri
gave us to really think about the implications behind our consumption of
“inexpensive, identical looking and tasting bananas on an everyday basis”
(30). It also made me think of what
types of relationships we have with producing countries, such as Costa
Rica. I also thought it was very
interesting to be reminded of all the different ways that bananas and plantains
are used in the Tican diet that we would never even think of in the
States. However, it makes sense that
they use them in so many different ways because they have so many different
varieties available to them, fresh everyday.
Overall, I think this conversation and blog made me think more than any
of the others. It really forced me to
look at the implications that bananas have had on both the U.S. and Costa Rica,
and if my actions do anything to perpetuate those implications.
I took my
pictures of bananas in Mas X Menos. They
were sold in the same area as the other fruits, but there were so many of them
that they had a whole rack to themselves.
I also noticed that there were different types of bananas, and that they
came in different levels of ripeness and different sizes. They varied from very small green ones, to
really large yellow ones. It was also
interesting that the plantains were displayed with the vegetables and were not side-by-side. They had a big bin of yellow ones, and
another big bin of the green ones. I do
not think that their display was anything special, but there were so many of
them that it caught my attention very quickly.
However, it did not seem like they were making a huge effort to give
them a special display. I think there
are just so many of them displayed because they are so prominent in the Tican
diet. The fact that there were so many
different variety and ripeness levels available shows how accessible bananas
are because Costa Rica is a producing country.
I also think that it is interesting that we do not have the small
bananas in the States like they do here, but then I realized that was probably
because they ripen in less time than it takes for them to travel to the
U.S. Overall, I thought that the display
of many different types of bananas, at many different sizes, and stages in
ripeness was very different than the way we find our bananas in the States. It is neat to find different sizes and colors
in contrast to the identical bananas we find in our local Wal-Marts.
Full banana display at Mas X Menos.
Different types of bananas sold.
Different stages of ripeness.
No comments:
Post a Comment