Where Do Bananas Come From?

Banana Tree, He'eia State Park, Hawaii. Just in case you wondered where those bananas in the store come from, shown above: bananas ripening on the 'tree'. Bananas are actually herbaceous (closer to grasses than to trees) even though they are called Banana trees. If you cut across a banana trunk, you'll find annular rings of soft, porous, sap-filled, grass-like layers similar to cutting across a large stalk of grass. These are apple bananas, named aptly for their slightly tart granny smith-like taste and firm texture.

Banana Boat!

The Banana Boat in the photo looked about as big as an aircraft carrier, maybe longer. I started wondering just how many bananas go through San Diego so I looked it up. Here's what I found compliments of an article called, "Port Brings Home the Goods." "The banana trade is unlikely to be affected by the economic downturn. Bananas are America's No. 1 imported fruit with the average American consuming more than 28 pounds annually. Dole imports 468,000 tons of bananas through the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. Put another way, Dole brings in 185 million bananas each month through the Port's Tenth Avenue terminal." The ship name said Dole Honduras. It looked like they get a huge load of bananas and then dock the ship and slowly offload them as needed. I believe they ripen them on demand so they can actually keep them green for quite a while.