Archives for the 'bananas' tag
Papaya Riots in Cuba
Cuban farmers must sell most of what they produce at state mandated prices. But after they meet their quotas (typically about 70 percent of their output) they are free to sell the rest at farmer’s markets, or agros. At the markets, prices are higher, but there are plenty of choices and the stalls feel abundant compared to the often-empty shelves of the state groceries:
At one such market this week, a chalkboard read “there are potatoes,” meaning spuds could be purchased with Cubans’ monthly ration cards. Besides that, a single produce stand sold only plantains, taro root and onions.
“They want to make all the markets like this. Sad,” the lone vendor said.
Price controls on food come and go in Cuba, with the state permitting market mechanisms in times of extreme scarcity, but then cracking down again once things get better:
Producers, sellers and customers said they heard from party officials that new price controls were set to begin Nov. 1 — but were postponed until January after a public outcry unheard of under the totalitarian government….
The agros [farmer's markets] first appeared in the 1980, when food shortages forced a reluctant Fidel Castro to allow farmers to sell produce at prices driven, at least in part, by the free market. Castro shuttered them six years later to improve foundering state agricultural production.
“They closed them for some of the same things we are talking about now: the black market, middle men making all kinds of money, the government unable to control the market, the food supply,” Messina said.
But the small dose of capitalism returned in 1994, when Cuba was again forced to allow more free-market enterprise to keep its people from starving after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which gave Cuba billions in annual subsidies.
The state takes 6 months to pay farmers for official production, so many farmers are tempted by the agro truckers, who generally bribe the police to turn a blind eye and pay farmers in cash upfront. Raul Castro is threatening to crack down.
The whole AP story is worth reading for a good sense of the background on this issue and what’s going on right now.
Via Crispy Reader and new food blogger Annie!
Semi-crossposted at Reason.com.
Food Blogger Slips on Banana Peel, Recounts
Yesterday, I did something putatively commonplace that was, at the same time, a thing I was convinced I never would do.
At age 36, I finally slipped on a banana peel. The one pictured at right, specifically.
Heel met peel as I exited my car on the way to school. The peel had been sitting in the road, lurking silently next to where I parked, just underfoot my driver’s side door.
Luckily, as I stepped on the banana and lurched backwards, my car broke what might have been my fall. (As you can see by the dark streak trailing the peel, my heel dragged it about a foot; my equal and opposite reaction sent me back the same.) I instantly thought that I’d stepped in dog crap–something I’ve done (unintentionally) countless times.
But no. I looked down. It was a banana peel. Left there by someone. Tossed, perhaps. Browned, and bereft of fruit.
If you’re like me, you see banana peels lying in wait for you from time to time. Maybe once every couple of years. When I see them I smile and walk around them, or over. They are there as if to gain our acknowledgment, to register something with us, and to be avoided. With less berth warranted than, say, a poisonous jellyfish on beach sands.
And so, a warning: banana peels are slippery; do not step on one.
Wikipedia describes banana slippage in pop-culture-historical terms here.
Wondering about how many people have actually slipped on a banana? A recent, small, unscientific message board poll found that 10% of respondents had slipped on a peel. Other (even) less formal message board polling here and here.
How about you? Ever slipped on a banana? Or seen someone else do so?
EU to Banish Bendy-Banana Ban
The EU has been great in many ways for member countries. A common currency and free movement across borders have been a boon for trade. On the downside, though, are the many stupid regulations that hinder trade.
The two-class rule for selling fruits & veggies–which creates categories based on conformity to some centrally dictated ideal–has long been one of the banes of sellers and has been responsible for driving up food prices. It’ll be no more, though, reports the Daily Mail, at least for some foods.
Bendy cucumbers and misshapen bananas are to make a comeback on supermarket shelves thanks to a change in EU laws.
Brussels bureaucrats have decided to ease strict guidelines governing the appearance of fruit and vegetables.
It is hoped the move will encourage shops to stock less-than-perfect-looking produce and cut down on the amount of food going to waste.
Under current rules, fruit and vegetables are classified into two grades, with ‘class one’ goods meeting strict criteria on size, shape and appearance.
It means apples are often rejected for being ‘too red’ or carrots for being ‘too wide’.
Although supermarkets can stock cheaper ‘class two’ produce, many choose not to because they believe their customers would not buy it.
Around 26 of the EU’s 36 directives will be abolished, although minimum standards will remain on goods including apples, lettuces and peaches.
More here. The NYT riffed on bendy-banana rules back at the dawn of the EU.
Bananas, Breakfast, and Baby Boys
What food an expectant mother eats–and when she eats it–may play a role in what gender her kids are, a new report claims.
Having a hearty appetite, eating potassium-rich foods including bananas, and not skipping breakfast all seemed to raise the odds of having a boy.
The British research is billed as the first in humans to show a link between a woman’s diet and whether she has a boy or girl.
It is not proof, but it fits with evidence from test tube fertilization that male embryos thrive best with longer exposure to nutrient-rich lab cultures, said Dr. Tarun Jain. He is a fertility specialist at University of Illinois at Chicago who wasn’t involved in the study.
It just might be that it takes more nutrients to build boys than girls, he said.
More here. Potassium and breakfast, eh? In related news, China’s boy-loving government ordered all pregnant women to eat at least a dozen bananas for breakfast every morning.
Also, if you want a boy, you might want to stay away from too too much radiation.
