TLDR: Nope--not identical. So, choose Fairtrade.

In many ways bananas are the ultimate commodity (i.e. products that are interchangeable with other goods of the same type). Because nearly all bananas in North America are of a single variety (Cavendish), just about any banana you pick up at the store has roughly the same size, flavor and color as any other. Even at a genetic level, bananas are incredibly similar because they’re not grown by seed. Instead, they’re grown by taking a small portion of a parent plant and allowing it to root into a new plant. But should we be so certain that all bananas are identical?

Meet Foncho Cantillo, a Fairtrade banana farmer at the Coobafrio cooperative in Colombia. Foncho’s cooperative used Fairtrade Premium funds to help establish a facility that creates plant-based biofertilizer which members can apply to their farms. This biofermented product nurtures the soil and helps to prevent pests and diseases. But this spray needs to be applied manually (and more frequently) than chemical fertilizer. This is just one example of a larger pattern; the labor costs of a responsibly-cultivated banana are often higher than those of a banana whose production degrades soil and disregards worker safety. To keep growing bananas in the way that Foncho’s cooperative does, farmers and workers need to be compensated for the full cost of the *actual bananas* that come from their farms. These bananas may look like any other, but they have much greater value economically, environmentally and socially than a regular banana.

So, why choose a Fairtrade banana? Because unsustainable banana farming practices (and prices!) aren’t…sustainable. Vote with your dollar for a future with bananas in it.

World Chocolate Day is July 7th

(As if we needed an excuse to delight in the goodness that is Fairtrade cocoa!)

Good things are meant to be shared--so we’re sharing this 4-ingredient recipe for what might just become your favorite sweet treat of the season. Trade justice has never tasted so good.

Banana Nice-cream
serves 2 moderately (sidenote: this recipe scales up easily)

• 2 frozen and overripe (i.e. very sweet!) bananas, peeled and chopped
• 3 Tb cocoa powder
• 2 Tb heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Blend bananas in food processor until the resulting consistency is quite smooth, then add cacao powder, cream and vanilla. Pulse until combined, then divvy up into bowls and enjoy right away.

Pssst…this might be a World Chocolate Day recipe, but it makes use of Fairtrade cocoa, bananas AND vanilla! Fairtrade sourcing options for your consideration:

• Coliman 🍌 Equifruit 🍌 Equal Exchange
• Divine 🍫 Navitas Organics 🍫 Wildly Organic
• Nielsen-Massey ✨ Rodelle

What We’re (Ethically) Consuming

• 21 Podcasts on Food, Farming, and Sustainability — Going on a road trip this summer? Here’s a round-up covering everything from the dark secrets of the sugar industry to the work of food policy champions.
• Climate Change Is Coming for the Finer Things in Life — Wine. Olive oil. Coffee. Cocoa. ‘It does feel a little apocalyptic.’
• Costco hot dogs have cost $1.50 since the 1980s. Here's why prices aren't changing — The hot dogs are an example of loss-leader pricing, a strategy in which companies sell certain products below their market cost in order to get customers in the door and, ideally, putting even more profitable goods in their carts.