Pineapples!

Before asking my Tica family about pineapple I reflected on when and where I have seen it since being in Costa Rica. I eat pineapple at least twice a week with breakfast and occasionally in juices. I see it in almost every fruit stand on the way to school in the mornings and in all the supermarkets. In my opinion the displays of pineapple are more centered and elaborate than the displays of bananas. On my way home from school one day last week I noticed a truck selling fruit near Mas X Menos. The fruit was in the bed of the truck, but there was one pineapple sitting on the top, almost as if it was on a throne. It reminded me of the reading where pineapple is described as the “King of fruits.” When talking to my family about pineapple, they said that pineapple can be eaten at all meals but in different ways. At breakfast it is eaten by itself or with other fruits as part of the meal, however if it is eaten at lunch or dinner, it is either in the juice, or it is eaten as a dessert after the meal. I find that to be similar with all fruit; eaten mainly for breakfast or dessert. When I asked my Tica mom if there were multiple types or kinds of pineapple, she looked very confused and said no. I then asked about the white versus the yellow pineapple, which sparked more conversation. She said there are two types of pineapple, the white, which is more acidic and the yellow which is the one used for exportation. She made it seem as though the white pineapple wasn’t very common or regarded as highly as the yellow pineapple (However, this could be because she does not like the white pineapple). I learned through my conversation with my Tica mom that the pineapple and banana have similar production processes. Although my Tica mom didn’t know much about it’s production, she believes that they are very similar and the majority of both banana and pineapple production take place in the Caribbean. I also got the impression that pineapple is very important. My Tica mom said that especially today with all the exportation, pineapple provides a lot of work  for people and it has become somewhat of a symbol of pride for Costa Rica. I find it very interesting how, even though banana and pineapple have very similar production processes they are regarded so differently. Both have the history of worker exploitation and racism, however pineapple does not take on this negativity whereas bananas are still associated with those negative connotations.

When I went to the supermarket to take pictures of pineapples I wasn’t sure what to expect. With pineapple being such an important crop in the economy, would it be found in more foods? Would it’s display be bigger than other fruits? Well, I found that its display and frequency was similar to most other fruits. As you can see in my first photo below, there are jellies and jams that are pineapple flavored, but other than that I really didn’t find many foods with pineapple in it. I wonder if this is because pineapple is really only eaten with fruit. Another thing I noticed, as shown from the second photo was the big tag on the pineapples labeled, “Dole.” Does Dole still have control over the entire pineapple industry? How much of the profits from the sale of pineapple go to Dole? Pineapple is so cheap already here and if parts of it go towards the monopolistic industry, then I can only imagine how little actually goes the producer. It would be interesting to see a pie chart breakdown of the money from pineapple sales! One thing I have learned from these foods, specifically pineapple and banana is to learn about the brands and industries controlling fruit production. I want to be more conscious of what I am buying and where it is coming from as well as where the money is going. Sometimes we forget how dependent we really are of the producing countries and if we keep exploiting them, we will end up losing a lot in the longterm.