Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

In the vein of Mark Kurlansky's bestselling Salt and Cod, a gripping chronicle of the myth, mystery, and uncertain fate of the world€s most popular fruit

In this fascinating and surprising exploration of the banana€s history, cultural significance, and endangered future, award-winning journalist Dan Koeppel gives readers plenty of food for thought. Fast-paced and highly entertaining, Banana takes us from jungle to supermarket, from corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables around the world. We begin in the Garden of Eden€"examining scholars€ belief that Eve€s €œapple€ was actually a banana€" and travel to early-twentieth-century Central America, where aptly named €œbanana republics€ rose and fell over the crop, while the companies now known as Chiquita and Dole conquered the marketplace. Koeppel then chronicles the banana€s path to the present, ultimately€"and most alarmingly€"taking us to banana plantations across the globe that are being destroyed by a fast-moving blight, with no cure in sight€"and to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world€s most beloved fruit.