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Smithsonian's 'banana' story: Not Woody Allen's |
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October 1, 2000
WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans went bananas a century ago and the tropical fruit has been as American as apple pie ever since. So American, in fact, that the venerable Smithsonian Institution has published a 210-page book telling the story of the banana's role in U.S. history - everything from banana splits to banana republics. Banana lore goes back to the unconfirmed report that a shipment reached the stolid folks in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1690. They tried boiling them with pork. It took nearly two centuries after that culinary disaster for bananas to catch on with North Americans. But when they did in the late 19th century, bananas quickly became America's most popular fruit, a status they retain to this day. In 1998, Americans ate an average of 28.58 pounds (12.86 kilograms) of bananas, compared with 19.2 pounds (8.6 kilograms) of fresh apples. Written by Virginia Scotrenzo Dow Baker, a Cape Cod fishing boat captain, and Andrew Preston, a Boston produce agent, joined forces to create the firm that became United Fruit Co. It became the leader in importing bananas and popularizing them. Jenkins relates how United Fruit and its competitors developed plantations throughout Central America and wielded so much power in several small countries that they became known as banana republics. Bananas remain a touchy foreign policy issue. The United States is imposing tariffs on European luxury goods in retaliation for barriers imposed by the European Union on bananas from the Central American plantations of U.S. companies. |