Cavendish Extinction
Q: When is a banana not a banana?
A: When its a cavendish.
There are many species of banana. The one most popular and familiar in the US is the cavendish. The cavendish is ‘the’ banana, it is almost absolutley uniform, and therein lies the problem.
..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.
..in 1992, a new strain of the fungus—one that can affect the Cavendish—was discovered in Asia.
via d
