Real Food Encyclopedia | Banana and Plantain

Because they’ve become so ubiquitous in the United States, it’s easy to forget that bananas (Musa acuminata) are a tropical fruit that aren’t produced in commercially significant quantities in most of the country. While many Americans eat them at breakfast, bananas go with every meal of the day, and, along with their starchier and sturdier relatives plantains (Musa balbisiana), are a cornerstone of tropical cuisines around the world.  

But the low cost and high availability of this fruit reflects some of the food system’s darker history, with the U.S. and other countries toppling governments around Latin America to maintain a cheap supply of the fruit. Even today, banana cultivation is prone to several serious problems, which include low biodiversity and heavy chemical use alongside unresolved labor issues. 

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Fun facts about bananas:

What to look for when buying bananas

Unless you intend to eat your bananas right away, look for a bunch that is still slightly green and allow them to ripen on your counter. The bananas should be firm, without bruises or black spots. (As they ripen, of course, their skin becomes golden yellow flecked with brown spots.)

Selecting plantains depends on how you’re going to be using them. For tostones, mofongo and other savory applications, you’ll want firm plantains that are still mostly green. To make sweeter dishes like maduros, you’ll need plantains that are softer (but not mushy) with mostly blackened skins.

Sustainability of bananas

Conventionally grown bananas have a large environmental footprint. The majority of banana plantations are monocultures (meaning that only one type of crop is grown in a given area and in the case of bananas, only one variety), which makes them more susceptible to disease (and thus more reliant on pesticides) while drastically reducing natural biodiversity. These plantations can also contribute to deforestation of vulnerable rainforest. 

Historically, the most popular banana variety was the Gros Michel, a sweeter and more flavorful banana than we’re used to today. But the industry’s choice to plant the Gros Michel in giant monocultures made it vulnerable: Panama Disease, a fungal infection, almost completely wiped out the variety in the 1950s, nearly taking the industry with it. Rather than adjusting their cultivation techniques to include more diversity and disease resistance, however, the banana industry today does the same thing with a different variety: the Cavendish banana, which faces a serious threat from new varieties of Panama Disease. 

Maintaining those monocultures requires a huge amount of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (including insecticides, fungicides and herbicides), which have a negative impact on local wildlife and waterways. Bananas show up at number 30 on the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which ranks foods by amount of pesticide residues found.

Organically grown bananas don’t come with the same heavy chemical use, though they may still come from large-scale monocultures that are poorly integrated with the surrounding environment.

Labor issues

Historically, bananas have been a big part of the colonial and imperial legacies of the U.S. and other countries, especially in Latin America. Eager to supply consumers in the States with cheap fruit, companies like United Fruit (which later became Chiquita) built enormous plantations in Honduras, Guatemala and elsewhere. They paid workers poorly, exercised a huge influence over local politics and even helped fund coups that kept industry-friendly rulers in power. These countries were termed “banana republics” because of the outsized control fruit companies played on people’s lives. 

Even though the most exploitative practices of the industry have been curbed in recent decades, the industry faces serious labor problems. In 2002, Human Rights Watch documented child labor (which included children being exposed to pesticides) and extreme deterrents to organized labor activities (including retaliation) in one of the largest banana growing areas in the world, Ecuador. (This New York Times article describes child labor in Ecuador in detail.) Twenty years later, the Department of Labor found evidence of child labor not only in Ecuador, but also in the banana industries of Belize, Brazil, Nicaragua and the Philippines. Pesticide exposure is also a major concern among banana plantation workers.

The introduction of organic plantations and fair trade certifications have made it easier to find more ethically produced bananas. 

Geography

Bananas (including plantains) are one of the most important staple crops in the world today, constituting a multibillion-dollar industry that involves small- and large-scale producers in 150 countries. India, China, Indonesia, Brazil and Ecuador lead world production as of 2023, while the U.S. and European Union remain the largest importers, despite playing a minimal role in commercial cultivation. 

Although bananas are often shipped long distances in refrigerated containers, they are still a relatively low-carbon emission food because of the lower fuel use associated with their growth and harvest. 

Seasonality

Bananas are grown in tropical areas and can produce nearly year-round, so seasonality is not particularly relevant to this fruit.

Eating bananas

Storing

Ripen green bananas on the counter. You can store them on the counter once they are yellow — but note that they will continue to ripen, and sometimes quickly, depending on how warm it is. Contrary to popular belief, you can store them in the refrigerator, but only after they have become the exact level of ripeness you want. Sticking them in the fridge will turn their skins black, while maintaining their level of ripeness (the cold slows the process, which is why you don’t want to put a green banana in the fridge).

Keep bananas away from highly perishable fruits and vegetables; they give off high levels of ethylene gas, which can ripening and eventual decay.

You can also use this to your advantage: To ripen a hard avocado overnight, stick it in a paper bag with a ripe banana. The ethylene gas will help ripen the avocado, making it perfectly soft and ready for your next batch of guacamole.

Cooking with Less Waste

Cooking

The most common way to eat bananas is right out of the peel, but they can also be incorporated into a variety of sweet and savory dishes. In sweets, you’ll find them baked, caramelized, broiled and even grilled. They are frequently paired with other tropical fruits and flavors like coconut, rum, chocolate and citrus. They are also commonly paired with warming spices (like cinnamon and nutmeg) and dairy products (like ice cream). 

Plantains, banana’s starchier cousins, must be thoroughly cooked before being eaten. They’re delicious fried (as in tostones), roasted, sautéed and stewed and can be used in place of potatoes in many dishes.

Because they tend to get softer (and much sweeter) the riper they get, the ripeness of your banana should dictate what you do with it. Most banana bread recipes call for super soft bananas, but if you’re planning on caramelizing them or slicing for garnish (like in this banana pudding recipe), firmer bananas are the way to go. There are a couple of famous banana-based desserts, each with their own interesting history. Bananas Foster, a dish of caramelized bananas with banana liqueur and rum, was introduced in New Orleans in 1951, while the iconic banana split was rumored to be invented in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in 1904. Banana cream pie first began to appear in print in the early 1900s. You can also find (or make) banana vinegar and banana wine, popular in parts of Africa.

Preserving

Bananas freeze beautifully — just peel them and stick them in a zip-top bag for use in smoothies and other frozen treats, like this amazing one-ingredient banana ice cream. You can also make your own banana chips in the oven. Banana jam or banana ketchup, a popular condiment in the Philippines, are other fun ways to preserve a bunch of the fruit, and will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Nutrition and health

One standard-sized banana provides about 2 grams of fiber (or about 10 percent of recommended daily value). Bananas are a good source of Vitamin C and Vitamin B6, Although bananas are commonly referred to as a source of potassium, one banana provides less than 10 percent of your daily value. Because of their easy digestibility, bananas are sometimes recommended as a food to eat after stomach troubles or vomiting. Although exact nutrient composition varies based on cooking method and varietal, plantains and cooking bananas  have a generally similar nutritional profile to the raw Cavendish bananas that have been best-studied by nutritionists.

Top photo by LinaVeresk/Twenty20.