Introduction: The World Going Completely Bananas
Of all food in the entire world, bananas are the best; they have been brought into the world to make the burden of life a tad easier to carry. Jokes aside, bananas are the product that I consume regularly, which makes this kind of fruit a perfect target for this essay. I typically purchase them in a supermarket for a price of $0.49 per pound, spending about a dollar each day for a supply of bananas, which is quite cheap and rather convenient.
The Key Additional Costs: The World Hanging by a Thread
When it comes to dealing with the key additional costs that growing, transporting, and selling bananas presupposes, the use of fertilizers and other farming issues must be mentioned. Chemicals and their impact on the environment are the key factors that contribute to the additional costs of bananas growth and sales. According to Sebald, “Another major effect of banana plantations on the environment is pesticide runoff. Pesticides are used to control the insects that destroy the banana crop. Without these pesticides a successful crop could probably not be possible” (Sebald, para.4).
Therefore, it cannot be denied that the increased growth of bananas has the most deplorable impact on the environment. In addition, the crop also has an extremely bad effect on the soil, which leads to the deterioration of other crops, thus, leading farmers to poverty. Since bananas are grown not to feed the local people but to be sold, the fruit becomes extremely costly (Shah). In addition, as ACORD Uganda research claims, “With time the small scale farmer is likely to be wiped out of banana production. This is because banana production at the moment needs a lot of capital input” (4).
Keeping Prices and Costs Lower: Suggestions
The most obvious solution for the problem will be to reduce the consummation of bananas in the state. Thus, the farmers will not have to boost the growth of bananas, which, in its turn, will keep the rest of the crops safer and will slowly but steadily lead to the improvement of the environment for the other crops and will stop the farmers from losing these crops for the sake of selling another bunch of bananas. However, taking a closer look at the situation, one must admit that it is mostly the pesticide that causes the greatest trouble. Therefore, it can be possible to consider other means to keep the banana trees from being attacked by insects.
Conclusion: Tasting the Forbidden Fruit
Thus, it can be expected that the price for bananas in the USA is going to rise the next year, which means that bananas are going to cost about $0.5 per pound. However, the price increase will not necessarily trigger the decline of additional costs for bananas. On the contrary, the price increase signifies rather the fact that the distributors of the product are going to obtain higher incomes, while the farmers will remain with their problems unsolved. Therefore, the focus of the current trends in economics must be on the decrease of the additional costs of fruits in general and bananas in particular instead of further business development. Once solving the former issue, the government is likely to tackle the latter easily.
Works Cited
ACORD Uganda. Problems Facing Small Scale Farmers in Isingiro District, Uganda: Focus on Bananas, 2010. Web.
Sebald, Gerald. Banana Plantations and the Environment. Hays Cummins Home Page: Ecology, Marine Biology, Coral Reefs, 2012. Web.
Shah, Anup. Food and Agriculture Issues. Global Issues, 2011. Web.