# Banana extinction?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 18, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906 "2003-02-18T16:18:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906/1 "2003-02-18T16:18:50Z")

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There was a rather alarming article in the Boston Globe this morning (opening sentence: “Just five scientists stand between the banana and its commercial extinction…”) forecasting the death of the banana as we know it. My understanding, prior to today, was that the “Cavendish” variety might go the way of the dinosaur, but there many others that could easily step to the plate should this happen. There are the tasty red bananas and finger bananas popular in California, for instance, that would be dandy in a peanut butter sandwich. The Joy of Cooking tells me “there are over a hundred varieties of cultivated bananas across the world,” but I realize Irma Rombauer isn’t the last word on matters of this sort. So what’s the dope? Has the Globe gone the way of the tabloids, or are we going to have to learn to like mangos on our cereal?

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906/2 "2003-02-18T16:45:13Z")

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The Boston Globe is behind the times. We went through this when New Scientist came out with an article in January: [Yes, we have no bananas; we’ll have no bananas tomorrow?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=157015) It turns out that there’s a new variant of a Banana disease that targets popular Cavendish cultivar.

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906/3 "2003-02-18T19:29:58Z")

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There have been a dozen or so threads on this topic - consensus: the banana’s life will be a bowl of cherries for quite a while.

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**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906/4 "2003-02-18T19:50:45Z")

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International Network for the Improvement of Bananas and Plantains, run by Frison, needs money. The Big Three won’t support him. Why?

> [@](#):
>
> ‘‘It’s expensive and there are serious questions about consumer acceptance.’’

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**Author:** ![Nether](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a87d85/32.png) [@Nether](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nether)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-extinction/155906/5 "2003-02-20T02:26:41Z")

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NO BANANA PUDDING!!!  
NOOOOOOOOO!!!  
THE WORLD IS COMEING TO AN END!!!