Organic Bananas

I like bananas. And about a year ago, organic bananas were on sale at the local supermarket, so I tried them.

I got hooked. They taste better. I have not sponsored a double blind study tasting both kinds, but the organic bananas seem to have a better texture and a more banana taste. They also seem to last longer sitting on my kitchen counter.

I only have one question for Dole, the grower of my organic bananas. Why do you wrap each bunch of bananas in thick plastic?

I’m happy to pay the few cents more for no fertilizer, no herbicides, no insecticides. I am not happy to pay for the plastic around each bunch. I can understand that the grocery stores across the country do not want their checkout people accidentally charging non-organic prices for organic goods. I can understand not giving customers the ability to tear off part of a bunch and buy just a few.

But can’t that be done some other way? I would be happier with a thinner plastic with holes in it.

I just hope their reasoning is not that the plastic bag makes my bananas taste better.

(Image derived from Bananas, December 2006 by photographer Steve Hopson. Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5. More information about photographer and other photos: SteveHopson.com)

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About the author

free electron

Simply, I want the world to be a better place, for my kids and for all the other children in the world. I am in IT, understand technology, believe in the scientific method, and have made a lot of mistakes.

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1 Comment

  • Someone from Bunting Resources/Associated Content published this elsewhere on the Internet: One thing that I have noticed about some of the Dole Organic Bananas that are sold is that they are prepackaged in plastic. Uncertain as to why this is I did a little research and discovered that organic bananas are often wrapped in plastic as a way to ripen while they are shipped. Apparently non-organic banana are blasted with a ethylene gas in order to speed up their ripening process. Understandably organic bananas do not use this process and I am okay with that. While I am not crazy about buying anything that comes in plastic I would much rather buy bananas in plastic than to buy bananas that were blasted with ethylene gas.