Week 9 Bananas

In Costa Rica, it is very interesting to see the variety at which people eat bananas and plantains. Bananas are eaten mostly raw, with any meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks), and plantains are eaten at any time as well; however, plantains have to be cooked before eating them and thus many dishes have been made to include cooked plantains. Thus far, my family has had plantains fried and squished, chips, fries, mash, in soup, in salad, in pasta, in bread, fried and caramelized, dessert style, etc. The best part about plantains is that they can be used during any stage of growth, so on more than one occasion, I have witnessed a bundle of plantains be used at once (even though the ones at the bottom were browner and the ones at the top were more yellow). However, the diversification of plantain uses in Costa Rica does not make plantains more valuable to Costa Rica than bananas. This is because most people still have nostalgic ties to bananas and not as much to plantains.

                Since bananas have had a strong influence on Costa Rica’s social, economic, and political history (and still has an influence now), the banana is a very important fruit to Costa Rica. Costa Rica once depended highly on banana exports for foreign investment and support, and although bananas still have that role, it has been changed slightly with the increase of technology in Costa Rica (Intel microchip exports) and with the export of pineapple. However, bananas are still tied tightly to the Costa Rican culture due to their history of cultivation. The cultivation of bananas is tied to every part of Costa Rica’s culture, from the land ownership and planting of bananas to the exports and political influence bananas had over the people of Costa Rica. Ever since bananas were first planted alongside the developing railroads of Costa Rica, bananas were a part of everyday life for Costa Rican workers. Bananas were planted by Costa Ricans, nurtured by Costa Ricans, picked by Costa Ricans, transported, sold, and eaten, by Costa Ricans. And, the country, as a whole, was and still is partially dependent on the export of bananas and foreign aid; which is very dangerous if the economy of a country, Costa Rica depends on, falls, then Costa Rica’s economy will suffer as well (a great deal) – This is still true for Costa Rica regardless of what export is key, because Costa Rica relies on export and tourism in general. Thus, if the economy of another country falls, Costa Rica will suffer due to the lack of exports and the lack of tourists.

Street man selling fruit.

Bananas and plantains are sold every where! And in every way! I found a person selling bananas and plantains on the street out of a grocery cart; even he had green, yellow, and slightly brown bananas, as well as, green, yellow, and slightly brown plantains. It is amazing at how available and prominent bananas and plantains are in Costa Rica, and how cheap they are. In the U.S. both of these (in the right condition) are not exactly cheap, and plantains are practically nonexistent, only to be found at specialty stores or restaurants. This tells us that Costa Rica´s produce is very local and in great supply, otherwise these fruits would be more expensive. This also tells us that Costa Rica is unable or unneeded to export all of their produce, either due to political or economic aspects of their country or other countries. In general, both plantains and bananas are very important to Costa Rica´s culture and they are very prominent every where in Costa Rica.