# Will Bananas go extinct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837 "2006-05-22T23:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/21 "2006-05-23T05:28:10Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > There was an article in Popular Science within the last year or so on the efforts being made to develop a replacement variety of bananas in case the present one is wiped out due to a pest or something( I can’t remember what the threat they were afraid of was). You can find this article online [here.](http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/5a4d4c3ee4d05010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html) Not only are they worried about a banana extinction, one has already occurred. From the article: > [@](#): > > A wild scenario? Not when you consider that there’s already been one banana apocalypse. Until the early 1960s, American cereal bowls and ice cream dishes were filled with the Gros Michel, a banana that was larger and, by all accounts, tastier than the fruit we now eat. Like the Cavendish, the Gros Michel, or “Big Mike,” accounted for nearly all the sales of sweet bananas in the Americas and Europe. But starting in the early part of the last century, a fungus called Panama disease began infecting the Big Mike harvest. The malady, which attacks the leaves, is in the same category as Dutch Elm disease. It appeared first in Suriname, then plowed through the Car- ibbean, finally reaching Honduras in the 1920s. Really quite an interesting article, regardless of one’s personal feelings toward the banana. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/22 "2006-05-23T08:34:14Z")
They might as well be extinct, given the _price_ of them in Australia at the moment (post Cyclone Larry). Where before they were maybe $2 or $3 per kg, they are now up around $14 or $15 for the same. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [May 23, 2006, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/23 "2006-05-23T08:45:36Z")
So, therefore, bananas may go extinct in Australia. Suppliers, start revving up your export businesses now and aim for Down Under. There’s gold in them thar curved fruit! ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/24 "2006-05-23T09:26:28Z")
Why dont they crossbreed them with something else then, say like a pineapple. I like bananas, and pineapple, and the new fruit “pinana” would probably be worth a Willy Wonkian greeting to life 😉 ---
**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:** [May 23, 2006, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/25 "2006-05-23T09:46:01Z")
I’m just imagining “pinana” burgers. Oh, drool … 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/26 "2006-05-23T11:59:42Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > I’m just imagining “pinana” burgers. Oh, drool … 🆒 Imagine the daquiri’s! Pinana Coladas! ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/27 "2006-05-23T12:03:17Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Doubtful. In fact, if the unthinkable scenario we are discussing here ever does come to pass, the song ( I assume you refer to “Yes, We Have No Bananas”) will have more relevance than ever before. 🙂 Alas, I fear I am misunderstood. I have no qualms with “Yes, We Have No Bananas”; it is a cheerful little tune which, importantly, I generally only encounter when I desire to do so. No, I refer to a far more insidious thing indeed. To wit: \*"Let me hear you say this shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S! (This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!) Again this shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S! (This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!)"\* **DIE**. Die and return to the demonspawn pits of the cursed fiery hell from whence you _came_, and no more corrupt the hearts (and ears) of the mortal plane. (And if you want to take those awful-tasting yellow crescents with you, be my guest.) ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/28 "2006-05-23T12:20:29Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > They might as well be extinct, given the _price_ of them in Australia at the moment (post Cyclone Larry). Where before they were maybe $2 or $3 per kg, they are now up around $14 or $15 for the same. > > :rolleyes: They’re only friggin 25 cents a pound in WI. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/29 "2006-05-23T14:41:59Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > But what would we call a banana split? Probably a royale split. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/30 "2006-05-23T15:43:24Z")
There are few fruits that offer a decent flesh to effort ratio. That is, the effort in preparing them to the amount of edible flesh. High ratio fruits are apples, pears and of course bananas. Middling ratio would be papaya. Low ratio would something like pomegranites. What could I replace bananas with? More importantly, what else would manufacturers put into baby food desserts? ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/31 "2006-05-23T15:48:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Bananas are great, and “banana” is a great word. So I’m glad the extinction stuff is not a major concern. “Banana” in the average American accent is an ugly word. “Banana” in a cultured English accent makes me smile, it sounds so lovely. I’d miss that. However, if bananas become extinct, we shall no longer need to know how to defend ourselves against attackers armed with them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/32 "2006-05-23T16:39:43Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > **Will Bananas go extinct?** > > More importantly, if they do, will that insipid song go with them? And here I thought you meant “I’m Chiquita Banana and I’m here to say, eat a banana every day.” And I respectfully disagree with **Qwest**. Green bananas are _delicious_. Sort of like a kiwano horned melon but easier to eat. That aside — I, for one, would like to welcome our new pinana overlords. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/33 "2006-05-23T16:47:57Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > But what would we call a banana split? Same as “bear left.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/34 "2006-05-23T17:01:26Z")
> [@qwest](#): > > Random banana fact - they do not fly well. Well, as a great, wise man - Plato, I think, or perhaps Socrates - once said, “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” Those words remain as true today as the day they were written. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/35 "2006-05-23T17:05:18Z")
I thought that was Groucho Marx. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/36 "2006-05-23T17:29:24Z")
> [@qwest](#): > > Random banana fact - they do not fly well. They’re still evolving. Wings are in the plan. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/37 "2006-05-23T18:05:05Z")
Good grief. I remember when bananas used to roam the wild in great big herds. If we had only known. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/38 "2006-05-23T20:45:10Z")
Remember back 30 years ago when the only variety of apples in the stores were Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith? Now you go to the grocery store and you’ll find 20 varieties of apple. Today you go to the grocery store and 99% of the bananas are Cavendish. They might have a few plaintains, or red bananas, or baby bananas, but most places only stock Cavendish. 20 years from now, when grocery stores stock 20 different banana varieties from the endless diversity available in the tropics, we’ll look back at this Cavendish blight and fall to our knees in thanks for what we are about to recieve. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/39 "2006-05-23T21:08:04Z")
> [@qwest](#): > > Random banana fact - they do not fly well. Don’t know if it’s pressurization or reduced oxygen, but they turn icky at some point in an airplane. Which explains why Harry Belefonte’s follow-up, “The Banana Plane Song” never got any airplay. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837/40 "2006-05-23T21:39:48Z")
Wow, what will happen to sex ed? How will the teacher show the students how to properly put on a condom without a banana. (I never understood why putting a condom on a banana will prevent a teen from becoming pregnant, but I didn’t ask questions - teacher said so it must be true) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-bananas-go-extinct/357837.md?page=3)