Resources_Waitrose02

Investigation ~ Waitrose Article Summary

Watty W Weasel read 'Banana Wars' and Stella Stoat has written a summary of it.

Again your teacher can read the full article here.

The History of problems growing bananas in the Caribbean
Pre 2001
In Central America, countries such as Puerto Rica and Panama bananas are grown on vast plantations, production is mechanical; fertilisers and irrigation are readily available. Wages are low. Yields are high. Bananas were produced cheaply	In islands like St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada banana farms are usually very small, family owned where everything is done by hand. Production is expensive but they were helped by Britain to sell their bananas cheaply here so they could compete with the larger producers in Central America.
2001 The large companies in Central America thought that the help the British gave the Caribbean farmers was unfair. They pressurised the World Trade organisation to rule that it was illegal. The Caribbean farmers suddenly found their bananas too expensive to sell. WIBDECO (Windward Islands Banana Development Corporation) was set up. They would buy all the islands’ bananas whatever the market.
Now Waitrose has set up a growers’ group with 104 farmers all chosen because of their good practice.

William Sitwell meets some of them. Here is what they say.

Ben Emmanuel	Owns an eight-acre farm a few miles south of Castries.“ I feel very pleased we are able to link with the buyers of our fruit. That means a lot to me and my workers.”
He explains the growing process	It takes nine months for a banana plant to produce a single bunch ready for harvesting. At six months, the bananas have the small, bushy flowers removed from their tails to enhance growth. They are bagged to stop the birds from pecking them. Each plant is propped to stop it from toppling in high winds. Small suckers grow from each plant, which will produce the next banana generation.
Thomas Calixt. One of Ben’s worker’s demonstrates the harvesting.	He chops off a large banana leaf with his machete and places it on the ground. He then slices off the bananas in bunches of seven and places them delicately on the leaf. Their stalks drip with the staining juices and he handles them with great care. Any bruising makes them unsaleable In fact, so sensitive are the bananas that Ben insists all his workers have neatly cut nails.The bananas are taken to the farm’s shed to be dipped for fungal control and put in trays for shipping. Ten days later they arrive in the UK where they are ripened for five days before reaching the Waitrose’s shelves.

William Sitwell is now at a weekly gathering of hundreds of farmers under a vast warehouse roof, on shipping day.

Webster Gajadhar	“There seemed little hope, but finally this activity is becoming a business”
Patrick Bretin	“This group has fostered a pride in the farmer. I feel it is worthwhile to be in the industry now there is a link between the farmers in St. Lucia and the consumer in the UK. We’re now conscious of the customer and also the welfare of the worker”
Robert Williamson	“The banana is not like a coconut. It is the only crop without a season. You can sell it every week and can eat it raw, boil it, toast it, fry it, roast it. And praise God, you should try it in porridge.”
William Sitwell speaks to St. Lucia’s agricultural minister Calixte George in an air-conditioned but shabby office in Castries.	“We cherish our colonial links. Without them we would be extinct. And now, with the World Trade Organisation’s decision and America’s attacks on the European market, it’s like being stamped on by an elephant. How we survived so far is amazing.” He is worried whether there will be a new generation of banana growers. St. Lucia must hope that the sons of today’s farmers will share their fathers’ passion for bananas and continue in their commitment to fair wages and good environmental practice.