Going bananas over Cavendish

I was shocked as I read the headline today. It said: “Bananas could be wiped out by a deadly fungus…”

What, bananas facing extinction? A fruit that we take for granted in Malaysia. I remember growing up in a suburb where every house had a banana plant.

But as I read the news article more closely, I discovered that it was talking about one popular type of banana – the Cavendish. The Brits love this type.

Apparently the Cavendish bananas are under threat from disease caused by two types of fungi – the Panama TR4 and Sigatoka.

The fungi are said to be spreading through Cavendish plantations in Indonesia, Taiwan, southern provinces of China and Malaysia, as well as in Central America. It has yet to reach the main exporting countries in Latin America or Africa.

It won’t be the first time a popular type of banana facing such a threat. In the 1950s, another Brit favourite Gros Michel was wiped out by the Panama disease.

Apparently biologists and planters are cultivating new versions to replace the Cavendish. But that is the problem isn’t it? Why do the Western consumers eat only the spotless banana variants? I am sure there are many other types of bananas in the world, all grown without any genetic modifications so that they don’t look perfect.

I remember back in Malaysia eating bananas with black spots all over them and they are as tasty as the Cavendishes or any other spotless bananas you get here in the UK.

Maybe it’s time for the Western consumers to go natural in bananas.