Amidst the awfulness of the impact of Topical Tropical Cyclone Larry, one of the side effects will be the impact on bananas. Apparently about 80% of the crop has been wiped out, perhaps causing prices to double, and a dire shortage expected for the next 9-12 months.
In my family we chomp our way through an enormous number of bananas every week. On a typical weekday, the three of us take one each to work/school, and they often get distributed liberally in the breakfast cereal, on icecream for dessert, and in the evening serve of fruit (generally accompanied by apple and sultanas).
Any that go mushy before being eaten end up being made into banana shakes. By my calculations the typical banana consumption could well be 20 or more per week. It might be time to diversify.
Given the seriousness of the storm, we should be grateful, of course, that the only impact is a rise in the price of fruit.
7 replies on “Tropical cyclone Larry”
How many kinds of bananas do you have in Australia Daniel? I ask because we have here 4 or 5 kinds.
Also, which kind of disasters do you have? We have earthquakes and El Niño here and in some provinces floods or extreme cold… depending on the season.
It was so good the only loses were material… incredible well organised… or incredible good luck.
If Larry was only a Topical Cyclone, I hate to think what an Oral Cyclone would be like, let alone an Intravenous Cyclone.
Enjoy bananas while you can Daniel, I remember reading a New Scientist article a few years ago tht pointed out that as bananas are sterile, pretty much all stock is geneitically identical, and, obviously they can’t crossbreed to create new stock. There is a disease going round that is wiping out banana plantaions that they just can’t fight. I’ll look for a link later, but for now I’m full of cold so I’m off back to bed.
Roby: I have no idea. Apart from standard ones and Lady Fingers, they all look the same to me.
Vaughan: Oops. Corrected.
Pete: Ah, that would explain why the government has so far been so adamant about not allowing banana imports into Australia, because of the risk of disease.
Daniel, That’s cool, so Australian bananas will be the only ones left, time to move back to Australia then, coz I love bananas.
(Or is that just a night out drinking saying that?)
Yes! We have no bananas!
We have no bananas today!
A while ago there was a bloke here in Oz developing a process to make good quality paper (for copiers, computer printers, etc.) out of the discarded wood from banana trees. He made the point at the time (but I don’t know if it’s true) that it was an opportunity for Australia as we are the only “developed” country (my quotes, not his) that grows its own bananas. Perhaps another reason for the strict control on imports?