Week 9-Bananas!

One of the first things I noticed about the fruit in Costa Rica in those first few days here were the bananas. In the supermarket, as well as the fruit stands the bananas are always yellow and ripe. Some of them are even starting to brown. The bananas sold here are also much smaller. At first I thought they were some sort of baby banana. At home, I am used to seeing green bananas in the supermarket, which are not yet ripe. I have come to notice with fruit that the U.S. has a much more long-term thought process. When we buy fruit, we buy fruit that is going to ripen in a few days because that is when we plan to eat it, whereas here, people shop for fruit much more often because they buy it ripe. For example, when my Tica mom goes to Mas X Menos and buys some mangos, we eat them either the next morning or the morning after. The picture below is of a fruit stand I pass everyday on the way to school. The bananas are always hanging, sold in “hands.” As we have read, this is the most common way to ship and sell bananas. Although boxes were used later, they aren’t as commonly sold that way in the supermarket. When I first saw plantains in the store, I thought they were big bananas. Although they look very similar, in actuality they are very different; in the way they are prepared and eaten. Plantains have to be cooked before eating whereas bananas do not and in many cases, aren’t. Bananas are very ubiquitous, eaten by themselves, cut up with other fruit, in cereal, or in desserts. When I was talking to my Tica mom about plantains when I first got there, I said “Oh, they are somewhat similar to bananas,” and immediately my Tica mom said “No, they are very different.” She then proceeded to talk about the differences in size, use and preparation. In my Tica house, plantains are only served with dinner and bananas are only served with breakfast. I can definitely tell that bananas are eaten often in Costa Rica, however I don’t notice much of difference in frequency compared to other fruits. Mangos, bananas, pineapple and melon are all eaten every week in my Tica house. I wonder if other fruits have become more popular now or if the banana has decreased in popularity in Costa Rica.

            This week our Spanish class asked our teacher about bananas. When we asked about the importance of bananas, the first thing she said was that they aren’t as important anymore. Although bananas shaped the history of Costa Rica, through its importance in the economy, now it doesn’t affect the country as much as other things, like tourism do. According to Sylvia, tourism has taken over the country’s economy and therefore there isn’t as much of a reliance on exports, especially the export of bananas. In history, as we have read, the lives of many families relied on bananas. Many people earned their living off of working on the railroad and banana plantations. Bananas were in high demand and the United Fruit company used countries like Costa Rica to produce and export to meet those demands. Another thing I found interesting about our discussion with Sylvia, was that she said, nowadays, the pineapple has become the new banana. However, she also said that the production of the pineapple is very harmful, with many chemicals involved. It is bad for the environment and the people working with them, however, they are still popular and in demand, therefore these production practices continue. I look forward to reading about the rise of the pineapple and its production in the next unit! Overall from my conversations, bananas were an important fruit in Costa Rica. Its history as such a valuable part of the economy made it big for a while, but now, while it is still eaten, I wouldn’t consider it a central part of Costa Rica.