# It looks like bananas will be off the menu for some time **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202 "2006-03-20T21:44:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/1 "2006-03-20T21:44:27Z")
Prices will skyrocket soon. Yesterday cyclone Larry [destroyed about 90%](http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18543556%255E601,00.html) of the Australian banana crop. I hope that all of those farmers had crop insurance. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/2 "2006-03-20T21:56:16Z")
So fruit does fly… like a banana. 90% eh? Wow, that’s pretty grim. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/3 "2006-03-20T22:13:20Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I hope that all of those farmers had crop insurance. Supply and Demand. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/4 "2006-03-20T22:13:36Z")
Don’t worry, I’m sure the slack will be taken up by banana smugglers. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/5 "2006-03-20T22:20:45Z")
I wonder if this will affect bananas in the U.S.? I was under the impression we got ours primarily from Latin America, so probably not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/6 "2006-03-21T02:25:35Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I wonder if this will affect bananas in the U.S.? I was under the impression we got ours primarily from Latin America, so probably not a big deal. I’ve heard that 90% to 95% of bananas in the US come from Equador. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/7 "2006-03-21T02:38:16Z")
Yeah well bananas everywhere may soon be a thing of the past. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2664373.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2664373.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/8 "2006-03-21T08:47:37Z")
That shit is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/9 "2006-03-21T11:25:28Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I hope that all of those farmers had crop insurance. I heard on the news over here that the sugar cane and banana growers weren’t insured. ☹ Apparently (side topic) the sugar growers had been waiting for a good year to sell their crop at a good price. This year was shaping up to be just that – until the cyclone. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/10 "2006-03-22T06:13:13Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > Don’t worry, I’m sure the slack will be taken up by banana smugglers. So that \*was \* a banana in your pants ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/11 "2006-03-22T06:20:39Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Yeah well bananas everywhere may soon be a thing of the past. > > [BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Bananas could split for good](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2664373.stm) [Here’s a rather different take on that issue from Snopes.](http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/bananas.asp) ---
**Author:** ![JimSox5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@JimSox5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSox5)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/12 "2006-03-22T06:40:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Here’s a rather different take on that issue from Snopes.](http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/bananas.asp) I don’t know, I thought the articles were saying essentially the same thing, that one strain of bananas has a very real chance of becoming extinct. Snopes says this as well as the BBC article. The only thing that Snopes does differently is to emphasize the existince of other types of bananas that could take the place of the current popular strain, such as what happened in the 1950’s or 60’s (the articles differ on when it happened) with another then-popular strain. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/13 "2006-03-22T06:50:13Z")
Not everything is different, but I do think that makes a big difference. The lede in the BBC story is “Edible bananas may disappear within a decade if urgent action is not taken to develop new varieties resistant to blight,” and sure enough, **Amp** says bananas everywhere may soon be gone. The fact that this has happened before is significant because it puts the potential disaster in perspective. I’m intrigued by the failed banana that tastes like an apple, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/14 "2006-03-22T19:47:52Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Austrailian banana. Don’t they curl the other way? ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/15 "2006-03-22T20:03:55Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Austrailian banana. Don’t they curl the other way? Only if you try to flush them down the toilet. E. ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/16 "2006-03-22T21:33:50Z")
News reports have estimated that the prices of bananas by the kilo is set to double - so that look like they’ll now be about $A7-8 kilo. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-looks-like-bananas-will-be-off-the-menu-for-some-time/349202/17 "2006-03-22T21:41:26Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > Don’t worry, I’m sure the slack will be taken up by banana smugglers. They’re a convenient shape, anyway.