DO I DARE EAT A BANANA?

"Increases in profits for banana-producing companies are not reflected in the wages of plantation workers, who are estimated to receive a mere one to three percent of a banana’s retail value." - http://www.foodispower.org/bananas/

T.S. Eliot once asked, "Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach." Each time I walk into Safeway or any large food store, I face a moral dilemma-- How do I balance my love of bananas and the nutrition they provide me, with the ugly process of getting bananas into my hands? I cannot simply retire, walk on the beach and pretend I am not part of the problem. How much do I actually care about the life of some farm-factory worker in some far off place? Do I care enough NOT to eat bananas--- hoping to reform Chiquita Corporation. In truth, causing a slow-down in the demand for bananas would only get workers laid-off.... causing them to earn no money at all.

This is similar to the sex trade in some south Asian countries. Should sex tourists stop going there, and stop buying young boys and girls--- thereby causing the death of those children, because those children have no other way to earn money? Can anyone solve that moral problem in a few cheery sentences--- issued by the Democratic or Republican Parties to show us all just how righteous their election platforms are?

Not thinking about these things -- causes further hate toward prosperous nations by the millions of people in poor nations. The hate which leads to airplanes crashing into skyscrapers. A justifiable hate. Because we, as world consumers, generally do not give a damn about lives other than our own.

Will not buying a banana stop the abuse of poor people in far off places? Not at all. Shall we aspire to Fair Trade? Fair Trade has become a joke--- taken over by the WTO to allow ADM and others to continue to do what they do--- with wholesome new logos and warm-fuzzy slogans. Actual Fair Trade only exists in small corners of the grocery market, and is harder to identify (among all the cheery, Green labeling of major corporations.)

I can offer no solution to these problems.... except to say, it's better to stopping lying to ourselves, hoping the problems will be solved by someone other than ourselves. Think about the man or woman in Vietnam who made your shirt, the boy in the Phillipines making logos for Nike shoes, the 12-year-old girl on the webcam-- trying to stay alive in her corner of Myanmar. Then decide what you wish to do about it.