# Is There A Banana Eating Controversey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751 "2002-07-31T20:29:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/1 "2002-07-31T20:29:51Z")
I certainly hope this debate doesn’t end up in GD, but considering it’s potentially volatile nature, who knows? I, for one, figured there was really only one sensible way to eat a banana, which is from the “top”, or stem side down, which is actually the botto of a something ahanging upside-down. But after reading this [article](http://slate.msn.com/?id=2067407) I was enlightened to the fact that some people eat them, _gasp_, from the bottom-up! This is insane in my book and only insane people with insane predilictions would do such an insanely insane thing. Yet they exist. And then I wonder if maybe my anti-freaky banana eating biases make me some sort of “phobe” of some kind. But no, I stand vigilant on this one issue, there can be no moral relativism in my book. **Bananas must be eaten stem down** if we are to maintain any sense of a working society. On this issue I will not waver, I wll not falter. ---
**Author:** ![Arwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@Arwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwen)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/2 "2002-07-31T20:49:38Z")
My dad insists that your stem down way is thecorrect way to eat bananas, since “that’s the way the monkeys do it”. I however, use the stem as a handle to get the peeling started, and therefore, start eating from the stem end. It’s easier that way. But if it makes you feel better, once I start eating, and the skin is hanging down the banana, the stem still points down. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/3 "2002-07-31T21:00:31Z")
Let me clarify, I don’t mean stem pointing down, I mean starting from the stem and then down… ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/4 "2002-07-31T21:38:23Z")
You’re right! Those bottom-up-banana eatin’ people are ruining everything! Just look at them over there! Oh how I hate them! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![peasea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc79bd/32.png) [@peasea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peasea)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/5 "2002-07-31T21:57:50Z")
**Tretiak** , it is righteous and morally clear people such as yourself that keep this country headed in the right direction. From the stem down is the only way. Indeed, doing something because ‘that’s the way the monkeys do it’ will only invite sin, Communism, and Pauly Shore movies into your life. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/6 "2002-07-31T22:24:12Z")
You mean you don’t eat them like an ear of corn?? What?? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/7 "2002-07-31T22:32:54Z")
I thought the only _proper_ way to eat a banana was with a spoon. Slice open the curved side with a knife, then scoop out spoonfuls. I’m not kidding. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/8 "2002-07-31T23:15:45Z")
Gee, I always just peeled it completely, then usually set it down to go do/get something, and then started eating from whatever end (since by then I had forgotten what end used to be stem and which was the butt). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/9 "2002-07-31T23:36:14Z")
I met somebody once who seriously argued (and she wasn’t just pulling my leg) that splitting it down the side and eating it beginning with the middle made it taste so wonderful that you would not believe you were eating a banana; sounded like complete BS to me, but I still had to try it; it _was_ BS. I peel from the stalk end; wouldn’t you end up crushing part of the edible part as you tried to grip and open from the flower end? Oh and I’m reluctant to eat a banana unless it’s properly ripe which to me means golden-yellow with black freckles (kind of pancake/crepe patterning) ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/10 "2002-07-31T23:39:19Z")
Oooh, now that **Mangetout** mentioned ripeness, I must admit that the only way I can eat a banana is if it isn’t quite ripe yet. It has to be mostly yellow, but the stalk and first half-inch or so still has to be green. And _no_ black spots whatsoever. The green taste is heaven! ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/11 "2002-08-01T00:09:36Z")
You guys actually _peel_ your bananas? Good grief. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/12 "2002-08-01T00:16:27Z")
Seriously, the biggest problem I have with bananas is that the entire bunch gets ripe at the same time. And the produce manager looks at you funny if you go around picking single bananas from different bunches. BTW, I like them when the green is just gone away, but they aren’t too soft yet. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/13 "2002-08-01T02:53:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lsura \* > \*\*I thought the only _proper_ way to eat a banana was with a spoon. Slice open the curved side with a knife, then scoop out spoonfuls. \*\* Maybe that’s how they taught you to eat it, down at [Spondivit’s](http://www.accessatlanta.com/auto_docs/dining/39127.html), but most of the rest of the world doesn’t sully silverware on a banana !!! I must admit, however, that I respect your cleanliness. 😃 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/14 "2002-08-01T03:03:28Z")
Yeah, stem down is The Way. Any deviation, and you’re on the road to anarchy. I liken folks who eat bananas from the stem up to folks who \*don’t start at the pointy end \* when eating a piece of pie. Heinous. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/15 "2002-08-01T05:34:21Z")
Just for the heck of it, you can always try sectioning it like an orange, then eating each section from whichever end you feel like. (Bananas actually do break into sections lengthwise, but it can be tricky.) ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/16 "2002-08-01T05:43:06Z")
Bah - The best way to eat a banana is with it liberally slathered in peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/17 "2002-08-01T05:44:14Z")
Banana’s the fast food of the fruit world ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/18 "2002-08-01T10:45:37Z")
You guys **eat** banana’s? Oh… ahem… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dharma\_Bumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@Dharma\_Bumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dharma_Bumpkin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/19 "2002-08-01T11:25:53Z")
NOOOOOO! You guys have got it all wrong. The bestest and only way to eat a banana is frozen! (the banana, not you). Peel it Cut it in half Wrap it in gladwrap (clingfilm or whatever for you foreigners) Shove it in the freezers for a couple of hours and… mmmmmm, nibbled on, it tastes exactly like banana flavoured icecream… and is perfectly healthy, too!! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751/20 "2002-08-01T11:36:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tir Tinuviel \* > **You guys eat banana’s?** Yes, but I spit out the apostrophes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-banana-eating-controversey/121751.md?page=2)