Comments for Dan Koeppel's Blog

Comment on More Chiquita Trouble in Colombia by Sam

Sam — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:05:26 +0000

I was a NTM missionary, as well as a good friend of Steve and Tim. I know and love the families of the two men and I was present when they were taken hostage by the FARC. I was disappointed to read about the payments that Chiquita made to the FARC. I have also had friends that worked in the management levels of the Chiquita company. It’s dusturbing to think that the money extorted from them might have been used to arm the men who attacked us and changed our lives forever by their actions. I previously held these men, from Chiquita, in high esteem. There was one in particular, that befriended me in Panama, whom I would still count as a friend. While we were still numb from the FARC hostage-taking at our base camp in January 1994, and were living in cramped conditions, not unlike refugees, in the nearby town; we watched in horror as Colombian television aired the video from a couple of banana plantations where the FARC had entered a remote village on the edge of the plantation, gathered-up all of the workers, then executed them in a wholesale fashion. The video showed the bodies lying in heaps, bloating in the sun. We did not miss the similarity to our own recent experiences. We all felt very fortunate to be alive at that point. Could the Banana company have yielded to the FARC extortion tactics with an eye to preventing more massacres like that one? That is my expectation. Clearly, many more have been harmed over time as a result of the FARC terrorism but I expect that the intent of the payoffs was to save lives.

Comment on Banana (High) Price Watch by Steve G

Steve G — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:23:36 +0000

I’m guilty of occasionally purchasing bananas at $0.90, or close to that. But it is easier to pick up a banana at or near work than to eat the mush that used to be a banana I brought in my lunch sack.

Comment on Photo of the Week by Record-Shattering Banana Price Battle in LA! – Dan Koeppel's Blog

Record-Shattering Banana Price Battle in LA! – Dan Koeppel's Blog — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:08:59 +0000

[...] at 19¢ each, the price comes out to about a half buck a pound (according to my banana price/weight index.) But there are even cheaper ways to get bananas in L.A. At the city’s Grand Central Square [...]

Comment on A Guide to Those "Baby" Bananas – and What They Prove by Steve

Steve — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:25:35 +0000

I’ve had some of the Dole baby bananas, the manzanos, I think. They are delicious, but I found them hard to peel as the skin is weak and thin and sticks to the fruit, which can be quite mushy. They aren’t a fruit I would throw in my lunch and bring somewhere as they are too messy to eat. However, I think they taste good enough for recipes and banana pancakes.

Comment on Banana Nut Cheerios: Review and Rant by carli

carli — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:52:11 +0000

I have severe OCD (now under much better control) and in the past, everytime I saw a Cheerios commercial, I would force myself to name all 8 million varieties of Cheerios. Thank goodness for Prozac.
I’m reading your book right now. (Well, not right now. I left it in the office over the weekend.) I’m enjoying it immensely. I don’t think people are enjoying my working banana trivia into every conversation.

Comment on Part two: Philippines…love, flavor, bananas, and war by Randy Chambers

Randy Chambers — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:41:02 +0000

I collect banana stickers (labels) from around the world and would like to hear from anyone with the same interest. I especially like to acquire stickers from Asia and the middle east I only know one other collector in Australia and he only began collecting in 2008, I began in 2003 after retiring from teaching. There is a loose knit group that meets every two years in different countries. This past year we met in Costa Rica. If already a collector or interested in beginning a collection, you can contact me:
Randy – Banasticker@aim.com
Will trade or buy.

Comment on Amazing Chiquita banana cartoon from the 1940s by Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:20:44 +0000

this is so funny i love this.

Comment on Latest Banana Growing Nation: Iceland by Evil Fruit Lord

Evil Fruit Lord — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:35:20 +0000

I actually saw banana production in Iceland, back in 2000, in a greenhouse in Hveragerði. A little surreal, stumbling in from a raging snowstorm (it was January) and finding yourself in the midst of banana harvest.
I’m pretty sure it was Cavendish, or something very much like it, anyway.

Comment on Video Review: Pudding Dreams. Shattered. by Chris Charla

Chris Charla — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:33:28 +0000

This pudding can be rendered far better by slicing bananas into it and adding whipped cream. Then it tastes like something you could imagine your grandmother use to make in the 1950s!
By the way, awesome book! Ditto with the bird book, which I am almost done with and led me to the Internet (to see a picture of the Phillippine Eagle), and then to this site. I somehow didn’t realize you had written both books, but both are fantastic.

Comment on Varietal Banana Coming to U.S. markets? by Agro Investment Group

Agro Investment Group — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:57:58 +0000

AIG Cameroon are dealer’s of agricultural products like class A cavendish banana of
Cameroon Origin,and presently, we have well over 5.000 metric tons
ready for exportation from our warehouses. AIG Cameroon is Registered under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. AIG Cameroon is a technology driven, one of the biggest banana producing company in cameroon. Customer-focused company engaged in the production and exportation of agro bi-product. Contact: agroinvest.group[at]gmail[dot]com