Barbara Ellington, Acting Lifestyle Editor
Green bananas ready for export on a farm in St. Mary.
ON A recent visit to Spaldings Market in Clarendon, I asked the price of a hand of green bananas and was quite shocked to learn that it cost $100 (in a country market). When I told the higgler I didn't have a prescription for it, she said, "But it's Mr. Banana, the price high since Hurricane Ivan."
I bought the bananas because I have always made a conscious effort to eat only locally produced ground provisions. I know the plight of farmers only too well and saw the devastation of banana fields as I toured the island as part of this newspaper's post-Ivan coverage.
But I also began to think about recent reports of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling on the proposed tariff on imported bananas that would affect Jamaica in a significant way. Clearly the time has come for us to cease our reliance on the whims and fancies of foreign buyers who are not obligated to buy our produce. Shouldn't we now look to some alternatives to exporting green bananas?
With this in mind, Food takes a look at some banana by-products that, if produced and marketed right, could provide a way out for farmers whose livelihood depend on growing bananas.
Nothing can replace mackerel rundown with few fingers of soft boiled bananas. And somehow, a plate of white rice and curried goat just seems to taste better with boiled bananas on the side!
Or, what would mannish water be without the chunks of boiled-in-the-skin green bananas? Think about banana chips, banana flour, banana porridge or even freshly peeled and packaged green bananas and a few tried and proven green banana dishes next time you go shopping for 'Mr. Banana'.
