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Russian
00:00:00
the american nation00:00:02
cannot must not and will not permit the00:00:05
establishment of another communist00:00:07
government00:00:09
this is called a cavendish banana it's00:00:11
the most common banana on earth it's00:00:13
probably the one that you have in your00:00:14
kitchen right now it's definitely the00:00:16
one you see in the grocery store this00:00:18
banana was created in a fancy-looking00:00:21
house in england00:00:25
yes created and yes in england kind of00:00:28
weird bananas aren't from england00:00:29
they're originally from asia and there00:00:31
are thousands of different kinds of00:00:33
bananas00:00:35
so how did this banana the cavendish00:00:37
that was created in england become the00:00:39
banana that you eat today well the00:00:42
answer to that is not so simple you have00:00:44
to understand the story of bananas which00:00:47
yes is something00:00:49
we're diving into today it's a story00:00:51
filled with predatory corporations and00:00:54
geopolitics and american imperialism and00:00:57
disease and00:00:59
really some amazing marketing it00:01:01
explains how corporations can grow so00:01:03
big that they begin to act like00:01:05
governments like dictators00:01:08
and it explains why this banana the00:01:10
cavendish the one you know and love00:01:12
might not exist soon the world's most00:01:14
popular banana may be on the verge of00:01:17
extinction oh and while i was diving00:01:19
deep into this i discovered that there's00:01:20
a better tasting banana out there one00:01:23
that isn't supposed to exist anymore but00:01:25
i got my hands on some and yes they're00:01:28
better so buckle up this is the ef'd up00:01:31
history of bananas00:01:34
we're pausing this story really quick00:01:36
because i just need to thank the sponsor00:01:39
of today's video which is stamps.com a00:01:42
service that i have used for now several00:01:45
years long before they came to sponsor a00:01:47
video so it's kind of cool a few years00:01:49
ago i became independent which meant i00:01:51
had to start running my own business i00:01:54
quickly realized that running a business00:01:56
means shipping things a lot i was00:01:58
shipping hard drives with footage i was00:02:00
shipping gear and lenses i was going to00:02:02
the post office a bunch which is kind of00:02:05
my nightmare so i googled like what's00:02:07
the best way to not go to the post00:02:08
office and stamps.com came up stamps.com00:02:11
is all of the things that the post00:02:13
office does but in your office or house00:02:16
i can ship packages and letters00:02:19
for less cost from the comfort of this00:02:23
studio in fact right behind me is my00:02:25
whole like stamps.com setup got a fancy00:02:27
scale so i literally put the package on00:02:29
the scale it tells me how much it is it00:02:32
plugs into my computer and i type in the00:02:35
address of where i'm sending it and it00:02:37
spits out a shipping label that i then00:02:39
print with my label printer and i put it00:02:42
on the package and then i put it at my00:02:44
front door and it gets taken away by the00:02:46
mail person like it's the easiest thing00:02:48
in the world and i'm very grateful that00:02:50
i discovered it stamps.com is saving00:02:53
lots of businesses time and money it has00:02:56
certainly saved me a lot of time and00:02:58
money which is why i'm really grateful00:03:00
that they're supporting this channel and00:03:02
sponsoring today's video you can get00:03:03
four weeks of this for free if you want00:03:06
to just try it out there's a link in my00:03:08
description stamps.com johnny harris if00:03:10
you sign up you'll get this free trial00:03:12
plus some free postage and a digital00:03:15
scale you'll get one of those scales00:03:17
which is incredibly helpful there's no00:03:19
long-term commitment or contracts just00:03:21
go to stamps.com johnny harris to start00:03:24
your trial get a free scale and some00:03:25
postage and never have to go to the post00:03:28
office again okay so bananas are from00:03:31
southeast asia but like 400 years ago00:03:33
europeans were taking over the world and00:03:35
the portuguese brought bananas over to00:03:37
the americas a few hundred years later00:03:39
an american sailor was in jamaica and he00:03:42
found this funny-looking exotic yellow00:03:44
fruit and money started flashing in his00:03:48
eyes he started selling bananas to00:03:50
americans who quickly loved this new00:03:53
fruit bananas were trending people were00:03:56
talking about it so then fast forward to00:03:58
nearly the end of the 1800s00:04:00
and you have the world's fair where all00:04:02
the people show up and show off their00:04:04
new technology at the fair you've got00:04:06
this guy alexander graham bell who's00:04:08
showing up with his cute little new00:04:10
invention that's about to change the00:04:12
world00:04:13
but another crowd favorite at the expo00:04:15
was the banana00:04:18
yes bananas were equally as impressive00:04:20
as the telephone at the world's fair the00:04:23
banana business started booming in the00:04:25
united states much of these bananas00:04:27
flowing in from new york city the port00:04:29
there was dubbed banana docks for a00:04:32
while because of so much fruit import so00:04:35
now you have all these americans eating00:04:36
this sweet creamy delicious fruit and00:04:40
throwing the slippery peels onto the00:04:42
street it got so bad that the police00:04:46
commissioner at the time00:04:47
oh god i can't get away from this guy00:04:50
teddy roosevelt once again i swear i get00:04:53
into any story i like start to research00:04:55
it and it's like yeah and then there's00:04:57
american imperialism and it's like teddy00:04:58
roosevelt like shows up anyway so teddy00:05:00
roosevelt the police commissioner starts00:05:03
putting a fine on people for throwing00:05:05
their banana peels on the sidewalk00:05:10
like this isn't just like a silly fake00:05:12
joke it's like this is a real thing00:05:14
people slipped on banana peels patrick00:05:17
banana peel don't what did you say00:05:22
and you could go to jail for it i mean00:05:25
look at this there's this new york times00:05:26
article00:05:28
documenting teddy roosevelt the police00:05:30
commissioner speaking to a room of00:05:32
police captains explaining quote the bad00:05:35
habits of banana skins and dwelling00:05:37
particularly on its tendency to toss00:05:40
people into the air and bring them down00:05:41
with terrific force on the hard pavement00:05:44
this was a real issue00:05:48
okay okay okay banana docs teddy00:05:50
roosevelt slippery banana peels silly00:05:52
newspaper articles from the late 1800s00:05:55
this isn't the story here we're just00:05:57
getting started this is like bananas00:05:59
like innocent phase00:06:03
it's about to heat up let's see how00:06:05
bananas turned from this00:06:07
to this00:06:10
[Applause]00:06:13
the banana business people in the u.s00:06:15
realized it was time to ramp up to meet00:06:18
all of this new demand but instead of00:06:19
just importing more bananas from say00:06:22
jamaica or other countries in the00:06:23
caribbean the banana companies realized00:06:26
that they needed to control the supply00:06:29
chain let me explain what i mean by00:06:31
second by looking at this banana bananas00:06:33
are00:06:34
fragile they're soft they spoil in like00:06:37
a week like this one's like moments away00:06:39
from spoiling look at those spots to get00:06:41
this thing from somewhere close to the00:06:43
equator all the way to new york city and00:06:45
then into someone's market and then into00:06:47
somebody's home00:06:49
all without it being crushed and without00:06:51
it spoiling is a fragile quick expensive00:06:55
process and the only way to do it00:06:57
profitably is to do a lot of it a lot of00:07:00
bananas00:07:01
[Music]00:07:04
the only way to do a lot of bananas is00:07:06
to control the supply chain so it's like00:07:09
1900 at this point there's a banana gold00:07:12
rush happening and there's a bunch of00:07:13
companies trying to figure out how to00:07:14
control the supply chain and then they00:07:16
decided to sort of merge together and00:07:18
become this one super company called the00:07:20
united fruit company and their plan for00:07:23
combining was to control everything00:07:26
control the supply chain they turned00:07:28
their attention completely to central00:07:30
america where they know bananas could00:07:32
grow abundantly and where oh look at00:07:35
this the us is thinking about making a00:07:37
little canal that cuts through this00:07:39
little narrow strip of land so the00:07:41
united fruit company is like00:07:43
that's kind of a nice perk for the00:07:44
region if anything goes wrong the u.s00:07:47
could have our backs foreshadowing am i00:07:50
foreshadowing i'm foreshadowing so yeah00:07:52
united fruit companies like this region00:07:54
central america looks like a great00:07:56
neighborhood to control the supply chain00:07:59
they wanted to control the people who00:08:01
worked on the farm by owning their basic00:08:03
survival needs they wanted to control00:08:05
the houses they lived in and the stores00:08:07
they shopped in and what they could buy00:08:09
they wanted to control the00:08:10
transportation by building railways so00:08:13
that they could quickly ship their00:08:14
product onto ports they wanted to00:08:16
control the boats and the waterways so00:08:19
that they could get all of these bananas00:08:21
from central america to the u.s00:08:23
before they spoiled they started with00:08:25
guatemala00:08:26
pouring tons of investment into00:08:28
controlling every inch of their supply00:08:31
chain soon they were the largest company00:08:34
in guatemala they owned a fifth of the00:08:36
farmable land in the country they owned00:08:39
all of the railways and all of the radio00:08:42
stations and radio infrastructure and by00:08:44
1901 the government of guatemala00:08:47
actually hired the united fruit company00:08:49
to manage the country's postal service00:08:52
what united fruit was starting to look a00:08:55
lot like a government and the result was00:08:58
a lot of happy banana-eating americans00:09:02
so they kept going they kept expanding00:09:04
their operations across central america00:09:06
so now with all of this beautiful00:09:08
infrastructure and trains and land the00:09:11
next strategy for making bananas even00:09:13
more profitable was you guessed it00:09:15
paying the workers next to nothing oh00:09:18
and paying them not with real money00:09:22
a lot of the times united fruit paid00:09:24
their workers in vouchers these vouchers00:09:26
could only be used in designated united00:09:29
fruit commissaries so they're not00:09:31
actually making real money here so wait00:09:34
now the united fruit company has its own00:09:36
currency oh and they also had like a00:09:38
private navy00:09:40
93 boats called the great white fleet00:09:43
then eventually they started using these00:09:45
boats to like transport people on00:09:47
cruises these boats were even used00:09:49
during world war ii00:09:51
united fruit started to look like a00:09:53
literal government they had their hands00:09:55
in everything so much so that they00:09:57
earned their self the nickname el pulpo00:10:00
which means the octopus in spanish00:10:02
meaning they had their tentacles in00:10:04
everything all over central america the00:10:06
land the crops the people the00:10:07
infrastructure and soon enough00:10:09
government agencies soon these countries00:10:12
became so dominated by and reliant on00:10:16
the united fruit company that they were00:10:18
no longer run by the people or the00:10:21
governments they were run by american00:10:23
banana companies who had all the power00:10:25
and leverage in the world this led to00:10:27
the nickname banana republic00:10:30
which is a politically unstable country00:10:32
whose society is exploited for profit00:10:35
for one single product in this case00:10:37
bananas yeah and probably not the best00:10:40
sort of thing to name your clothing00:10:42
store after like just a thought but like00:10:45
who who made that decision united fruit00:10:48
and other banana companies continued to00:10:50
grow and control central america00:10:53
eventually people got tired of this in00:10:55
1911 honduras was like all right we're00:10:58
done banana companies like00:11:00
we're gonna take back our land we can00:11:02
take it from here these are our00:11:04
plantations you've gone too far banana00:11:06
companies didn't like this so they00:11:07
organized a private army to help00:11:09
overthrow the government so that they00:11:11
could put in a president that they liked00:11:13
who would allow them to keep doing00:11:15
exactly what they were doing and also00:11:17
give them a tax break so yeah banana00:11:19
companies are now overthrowing00:11:21
governments jeez00:11:23
this kept happening anytime there was00:11:25
political dissent or the governments of00:11:27
these countries started to like step up00:11:28
and say like no the banana companies00:11:30
would intervene and guess who had their00:11:33
back the us military and yes00:11:36
we're back to teddy roosevelt's00:11:38
teddy roosevelt00:11:40
what a guy00:11:41
here's teddy stomping around the00:11:43
caribbean with his big stick making sure00:11:46
that american military and business00:11:48
interests are protected in honduras00:11:51
alone the u.s invaded seven times in the00:11:54
early 1900s00:11:56
all in the name of protecting these00:11:58
banana companies and other us interests00:12:01
from having to face these pesky locals00:12:04
who were so audacious as to want to run00:12:07
their own country how dare they if you00:12:09
remember that at this time the u.s was00:12:11
starting to get really comfortable with00:12:13
empire behavior and central america was00:12:16
at the top of the priority list the00:12:18
banana companies knew this which allowed00:12:20
them to feel emboldened to just sort of00:12:22
do whatever they wanted in the region00:12:24
okay but this is sort of child's play it00:12:26
started to get a lot worse in the 1920s00:12:31
there was a situation in colombia where00:12:34
a bunch of workers for the united fruit00:12:36
company decided to stop working and00:12:38
protest their working conditions they00:12:40
were asking for a few things like i00:12:42
don't know working six days a week00:12:44
instead of seven or getting paid real00:12:47
money the united fruit company refuses00:12:50
to negotiate with them and instead goes00:12:52
to the u.s and says hey usa we've got00:12:55
these really annoying workers who are00:12:57
like trying to unionize and trying to00:12:59
get paid and stuff and it actually00:13:01
smells a lot like00:13:03
communism00:13:05
and the us is like wait what communism00:13:06
tell me more so then the us threatens to00:13:09
invade with their marines and squash00:13:12
this strike if the colombian military00:13:14
doesn't do something first reminder that00:13:16
we're not talking about some big00:13:18
political revolution or rebellion we're00:13:21
talking about a few workers in a banana00:13:24
plantation protesting for more humane00:13:26
conditions and yet this was a priority00:13:29
for the us government to put pressure on00:13:32
colombia to fix the situation of course00:13:35
colombia didn't want to make the u.s00:13:37
angry so they responded and sent in00:13:39
their own troops to go put down this00:13:42
workers strike and they were ordered to00:13:44
quote spare no ammunition00:13:48
so on december 5th 1928 these protesters00:13:51
are in the town square in this town in00:13:53
colombia and the colombian army shows up00:13:56
and massacres them men women and00:13:59
children were killed by their own00:14:02
military all because an american banana00:14:04
company didn't want to pay them a decent00:14:07
wage i mean this is00:14:09
madness it is madness to think that00:14:11
these large geopolitical forces were00:14:14
coming to bear over a banana plantation00:14:16
this event is called the banana massacre00:14:20
this didn't stop in 1928. fast forward00:14:22
to guatemala in the 1950s at this point00:14:25
the united fruit company el pulpo is00:14:28
making major profits they own almost 5000:14:31
percent of the land in guatemala00:14:34
tax-free but this president jacobo00:14:36
arbenz who was democratically elected00:14:39
is trying to change things he wants to00:14:42
take land that united fruit owns but00:14:44
isn't using and redistribute it to poor00:14:46
guatemalans he's sort of doing like a00:14:48
robin hood thing trying to like lift00:14:50
poor guatemalans out of poverty but of00:14:52
course united fruit didn't like this but00:14:54
instead of engaging directly with the00:14:56
guatemalan government united fruit goes00:14:59
to the white house and says those magic00:15:01
words again communism united fruit then00:15:04
hired this pr magician who happened to00:15:07
be sigmund freud's nephew and he worked00:15:09
with news agencies to create a bunch of00:15:12
fake stories that linked arbenz the00:15:15
president of guatemala to communism00:15:17
completely fake news00:15:19
and not just like using that word00:15:20
lightly like he created a fake00:15:22
guatemalan newspaper created all these00:15:24
fake reports and then distributed those00:15:27
fake newspapers to congress he planted00:15:30
the seeds in their minds that the united00:15:31
fruit company were the good guys and00:15:33
that arbenz the democratically elected00:15:35
leader needed to go because of communism00:15:39
it totally worked president eisenhower00:15:41
the president of the united states00:15:42
believed all of this00:15:44
and he sent in the cia to get our bence00:15:48
out of power to protect the banana00:15:50
people once again so it's a classic cia00:15:53
coup they go find a bunch of rebels they00:15:56
give them money and they train them00:15:58
rebels rose to oust guatemala's red00:16:00
infiltrated government they find a00:16:02
leader who wants to be the next00:16:04
president that's friendly to the u.s and00:16:06
eventually they start broadcasting00:16:07
anti-government propaganda and they turn00:16:10
guatemalans against their government00:16:12
with all of this fake news and00:16:13
propaganda they send the navy in to00:16:15
block guatemalan waters they send some00:16:17
bombs onto guatemala city and then00:16:21
they invade00:16:22
[Music]00:16:28
and then with these trained fighters00:16:29
they go take over the government the00:16:31
guatemalan army surrenders and the00:16:34
leader of the rebels becomes the new00:16:36
president friendly to the united states00:16:38
and now the banana companies are happy00:16:40
and they have a guy in power that is00:16:42
their guy it's like it's like they have00:16:44
a playbook on how to like mess with00:16:46
democracies around the world and they00:16:48
just sort of followed the playbook00:16:49
they're like oh we did we've done this00:16:51
before we're going to do it again in00:16:52
iran in a little bit like this is like00:16:55
classic classic cia coup by the way this00:16:59
coup was sort of a death blow to00:17:01
democracy in guatemala it divided00:17:04
and destroyed the budding civil society00:17:07
that has not allowed guatemala to00:17:08
recover since all because these banana00:17:11
companies wanted to control the supply00:17:13
chain these things leave scars major00:17:16
scars major marks on a country scars00:17:19
that are still felt today okay let's00:17:22
switch gears for a second because all of00:17:23
this sort of banana like coups and00:17:26
banana republics and massacres is like00:17:29
horrendous00:17:30
but during all of this violence and00:17:32
military invasions and human rights00:17:34
violations all of this meant that the00:17:36
united fruit company was getting really00:17:38
really good at their business they were00:17:40
sending too many bananas to the united00:17:43
states there was a ton of banana supply00:17:45
but demand wasn't rising fast enough the00:17:47
average american didn't totally know how00:17:50
to use bananas so the united fruit00:17:53
company creates this amazing marketing00:17:55
campaign00:17:56
[Music]00:17:59
so now they're paying doctors to write00:18:01
amazing academic journal articles about00:18:03
bananas00:18:04
they cut a deal with kellogg's to like00:18:06
market the cereal as something that00:18:08
pairs with bananas which is something i00:18:10
still do today i cut up my bananas and i00:18:13
put them in my cereal because of this00:18:15
campaign they targeted moms with small00:18:18
children they made recipe books they00:18:21
even created a guide on how to decorate00:18:24
with bananas bananas can be served in00:18:26
many different and many attractive ways00:18:28
blended with fruits nuts and gelatins00:18:30
they provide high food value and00:18:32
nourishment00:18:33
but their biggest success00:18:35
was miss chiquita i'm chiquita banana00:18:38
and i've come to say bananas have to00:18:41
ripen in a certain way and when they're00:18:43
flexed with brown and have a golden hue00:18:46
bananas taste the best and are the best00:18:48
for you the american public fell in love00:18:50
with this lady and bananas they had no00:18:53
idea that these bananas were being00:18:55
produced and shipped and bought with00:18:57
blood they just liked how they taste but00:18:59
isn't that the case with a lot of things00:19:00
that we all consume every day but00:19:02
there's one thing that u.s imperialism00:19:05
and millions of dollars of marketing00:19:07
cannot control which is00:19:10
disease00:19:12
this is the part of the story that i00:19:14
tell you that the bananas that were all00:19:16
the rage during the 1900s are not the00:19:18
bananas that you're eating today00:19:22
part of united fruit company's efforts00:19:24
to control everything was standardizing00:19:27
the genetics of the banana making them00:19:29
all exactly the same monocultures is00:19:32
what we call that the problem with00:19:34
monocultures is that they are like00:19:36
heaven for a disease00:19:38
because you don't have to solve the same00:19:40
puzzle to infect another banana if you00:19:43
infect one you infect them all and00:19:44
that's exactly what happened00:19:47
panama disease was a fungus that came in00:19:49
and destroyed banana plantations the00:19:52
banana supply in the u.s shrank rapidly00:19:55
and there was even a hit song about the00:19:57
banana shortage00:19:59
[Music]00:20:07
the banana that they had been using the00:20:08
one that was getting really popular in00:20:10
the u.s was called the grow michelle or00:20:12
the big mike banana but it was now00:20:15
completely getting ravaged by disease so00:20:17
these banana companies are freaking out00:20:19
they're like we are done like we've00:20:20
built this entire empire and this00:20:23
disease is gonna wipe us out so they00:20:25
started to scramble to find another00:20:27
banana it turns out there's like a00:20:29
thousand types of bananas out there00:20:31
there's like red ones and blue ones and00:20:33
like teal ones i mean a blue banana i00:20:36
feel like i have to eat a blue banana at00:20:38
some point in my life but here's the00:20:39
problem us americans we buy our food00:20:41
kind of with our eyes first we're just00:20:44
like it needs to look good and so these00:20:46
companies realize that they couldn't00:20:47
send a blue banana to the united states00:20:49
they needed a banana that looked similar00:20:52
yellow sweet and seedless so that they00:20:54
could keep selling to americans who00:20:56
hopefully wouldn't notice the switch00:20:58
enter00:20:59
our friend the cavendish banana00:21:02
[Music]00:21:06
like i said in the beginning this banana00:21:07
was invented by a british guy who was00:21:10
tinkering with banana seeds in this00:21:12
amazing looking house in northern00:21:14
england and after years of playing00:21:15
around with the genetics the plant00:21:18
finally flowered and popped out this big00:21:20
beautiful yellow banana00:21:22
and so he named it after the duke00:21:24
william cavendish so now here's the sad00:21:27
part the grow michelle the one that had00:21:29
caught on that was like the big hit in00:21:31
america was a way better banana is a way00:21:34
better banana it is sweeter it's more00:21:36
durable and it's just overall a better00:21:39
banana compared to the cavendish in fact00:21:41
the artificial banana flavor that we00:21:43
have in our candies like blaffy taffy00:21:45
comes from the original grow michelle00:21:48
not from the cavendish but the grow me00:21:50
shell was getting destroyed by this00:21:52
disease and the cavendish was luckily00:21:55
resistant to the disease so the dictator00:21:57
banana companies made the switch and00:21:59
hoped that the people wouldn't care or00:22:02
notice as long as they looked the same00:22:04
and guess what it totally worked they00:22:06
quietly switched out the banana to the00:22:08
new cavendish and people just kept00:22:10
buying bananas i mean i can't believe00:22:12
that there is a better banana out there00:22:13
that i have not tasted i wonder if i can00:22:15
get my hands on one00:22:16
[Music]00:22:20
bananas the grommy shell banana still00:22:22
exists it's just a select few people on00:22:25
this planet still grow it and i found a00:22:27
farm that sent me a few00:22:29
i'm gonna try this thing00:22:31
grow michelle let's do this00:22:33
[Music]00:22:38
what a beautiful banana00:22:42
wow i mean i'm obviously primed to like00:22:45
this more so i don't know if i'm really00:22:47
liking it more but it's definitely a00:22:48
better banana right now in my mind00:22:50
slightly different color it's got this00:22:52
like burgundy vibe going on it's sweeter00:22:55
i like the texture more i think this is00:22:57
a better banana too bad this thing got00:22:59
completely wiped out00:23:00
by a disease okay so let's get up to00:23:03
speed before we finish this story off00:23:05
because the last part of it is quite00:23:07
interesting and applies to00:23:09
our modern day to summarize bananas came00:23:12
to the u.s predatory companies invaded00:23:14
whole countries to help the us exploit00:23:16
them for bananas while using amazing00:23:19
marketing to keep demand up and because00:23:21
of this panama disease they had to00:23:22
switch to the inferior cavendish banana00:23:24
so where do we go from here united fruit00:23:26
eventually rebranded to chiquita they're00:23:29
still doing some pretty shady stuff like00:23:31
paying millions of dollars to terrorist00:23:34
death squads and getting sued by workers00:23:36
who have become sterile after handling00:23:37
pesticides00:23:39
banana companies will probably always do00:23:40
this because the other thing that00:23:42
remains is that bananas are still soft00:23:45
and spoil quickly and grow in far away00:23:47
places from where you eat them so the00:23:49
entire supply chain needs to be00:23:51
controlled and the other thing that00:23:53
hasn't changed is that the new banana is00:23:55
genetically optimized so that every00:23:58
banana is exactly the same so it fits00:24:00
perfectly into these boxes into these00:24:01
crates onto these ships into these00:24:03
supermarkets but guess what00:24:05
there's another disease the panama00:24:08
disease the one that wiped out the grow00:24:10
michel it's back and it's mutated and00:24:13
it's coming for the cavendish and what's00:24:15
tricky about these diseases is there's00:24:17
no way to detect them before they arrive00:24:19
before it's too late it just quietly00:24:21
kills the banana trees and makes it00:24:23
impossible to ever grow there again you00:24:25
have to burn the entire plantation this00:24:28
is already happening in the philippines00:24:30
which is the second largest exporter of00:24:31
bananas the disease has devastated the00:24:34
land and the banana economy it's making00:24:36
its way through asia okay but asia's00:24:39
like super far away and it's like00:24:40
there's a whole ocean in between it's00:24:41
like all our bananas come from latin00:24:43
america wrong in 2019 it was detected in00:24:46
colombia and in april of this year just00:24:49
a few months ago the disease was found00:24:51
in peru00:24:52
right next to ecuador which is the00:24:54
largest exporter of bananas that come to00:24:56
the us it's coming for your bananas so00:24:59
everyone's on high alert and bananas as00:25:01
we know them might be doomed so now00:25:03
we're seeing history kind of repeat00:25:05
itself00:25:06
we're looking at the potential collapse00:25:08
of a 25 billion dollar industry and00:25:11
entire economies00:25:13
which is like hundreds of thousands of00:25:15
jobs00:25:17
to me the big problem here the thing00:25:19
that's repeating itself00:25:20
is the same problem of united fruit00:25:23
company going in trying to control every00:25:25
angle of their production to maximize00:25:28
profits00:25:29
when we have companies00:25:31
that feel emboldened to do whatever it00:25:33
takes to make the most profit you're00:25:36
going to get situations like this00:25:37
whether it is banana massacres in00:25:40
colombia or a coup in honduras or a00:25:43
monoculture that gets wiped out by00:25:45
disease time and time again we try to00:25:47
engineer our way out of these problems00:25:49
and we sometimes do but at the end of00:25:52
the day nature will catch up with us and00:25:55
as long as we ignore the true costs of00:25:57
these economies00:25:59
the cost to people to democracies00:26:02
to ecologies00:26:04
we're never actually going to get rid of00:26:06
these problems okay00:26:08
thanks for watching00:26:10
i'm going to eat a cavendish now00:26:22
see yaDescription:
How the US used Bananas to Conquer Central America Get a 4-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale at https://www.stamps.com/JohnnyHarris Thanks to Stamps.com for sponsoring the show! I will never be able to look at bananas the same way again. The history behind this fruit is filled with government coups, propaganda, and predatory corporations. This is the story of how US imperialism gave us crappy bananas - and why the ones in your kitchen might be doomed. Read more in a great book by Dan Koeppel: “Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World" https://bookshop.org/books/banana-the-fate-of-the-fruit-that-changed-the-world/9780452290082. Big thanks to Mark Whalen for his research on the topic. Thanks to https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser who covers the ramifications of this history. And thank you to Anderson’s Tropical Fruit Farm in Florida for shipping us the Gros Michel Bananas! - ways to support - My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnnyharris Our custom Presets & LUTs: https://store.dftba.com/products/johnny-iz-luts-and-presets - where to find me - Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnny.harris Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser Iz's (my wife’s) channel: https://www.youtube.com/iz-harris - how i make my videos - Tom Fox makes my music, work with him here: https://tfbeats.com/ I make maps using this AE Plugin: https://aescripts.com/geolayers/?aff=77 All the gear I use: https://www.izharris.com/gear-guide - my courses - Learn a language: https://www.brighttrip.com/courses/the-ultimate-language-learning-guide Visual storytelling: https://www.brighttrip.com/courses/visual-storytelling - about - Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He currently is based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe. Johnny's visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University and an MA in international peace and conflict resolution from American University. - press - NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/opinion/democrats-blue-states-legislation.html NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007358968/covid-pandemic-us-response.html Vox Borders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrFyjGZ9NU Finding Founders: https://findingfounders.co/episodes/johnny-harris-2esj3-c3pet-2pg4c-xbtwa-5gaaa NPR Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1072164745
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