This nonsense is completely out of control.

This article explores how bananas became such a cheap commodity, and what that can teach us about the price of alternative energy. If you know anyone who likes bananas, pretty please share

Before we get down to business, literally, please allow me to knock you on your ass with some banana facts. Actually, these will be facts about the musa acuminata, (for real aficionados, the Cavendish), which we call “the banana” but is actually one of more than two hundred varieties of bananas that exist. That’s right, there are more than two hundred types of bananas. The politicians have been keeping them from us! Surely this is not what Friar Romas de Berlanga, the Spanish Catholic missionary, intended when he introduced bananas to the New World in 1516 [1]. “Wait, bananas aren’t indigenous to Central America?” you must be asking, jaw agape. It’s not surprising that you’re surprised. Over 95% of bananas sold in the US come from Central America, so it’s a natural assumption that bananas have always come from there. Globally, though, Southeast Asia grows the most bananas. That makes sense, because bananas originated in those rainforests, in what I can only assume was the true location of the Garden of Eden. As you can tell, I’m a big banana guy. And I’m not alone. Americans on average consume about two bananas per week, making it the most popular fruit in the country. Fortunately, our love for bananas doesn’t break the bank. A banana costs about $0.25 (national average), which translates to about 400 calories per dollar. That’s a better deal than pretty much anything on the menu at McDonalds. Nutritious, delicious, and financially propitious! All this raises two obvious questions. First, why isn’t Friar Berlanga in our history books? Not only did he introduce bananas to the two continents, he discovered, by way of enchanted accident, the Galapagos Islands, which basically means he came up with the theory of evolution himself.

Make him a holiday! I’d be comfortable adding him to Mt. Rushmore. The second question, and the real topic of this post, is: why are bananas so cheap? 

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