National Banana Lovers Day 2020

I enjoy eating a banana fairly often. Mom likes them as long as they are totally blemish free. Let them develop a single sugar spot and BOOM she wants to be rid of them. I try to explain to her that those spots are a function of the ripening process ... however she remains unimpressed.

A few years back I read of a threat to the bananas we have become used to in the grocery stores. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved at all, only worsened:

A tragedy looms on the horizon. The Cavendish banana, a popular cultivar developed in 1965 and mainstay of retail markets being exported worldwide is deep in the process of complete ruination by a fungal disease known as "Tropical Race 4".

This disease process began in Malaysia in 1990 and has spread to Southeast Asia, Australia, and Africa.

It is decimating the Cavendish banana culture to nothingness and soon these fruit will be unavailable anywhere as the affectation has resisted all attempts at control.

Today is National Banana Lovers Day, observed in the US by those of us who enjoy eating these tropical delights. There is no telling how much longer they will be available for us and the portends are indeed quite bleak.