Apparently you should cut off the ends of bananas before eating them

[emkana]

...about 2 cm each end. Because of pesticides which get in at the tips.
So I just read on a German discussion board.
Is this madness? Or has anybody heard this as well?
It wasn't just one person saying this, it was lots. I've never heard this before!

[dejags]

I always cut the ends of bananas off, not because of pesticides but because the ends are hard and horrible.

[Tissy]

thank goodness I buy organic bananas!

[QueenFlounce]

Emkana - Surely you could just wash them like you do with other fruits?

i was having a discussion about organic food the other day with my organic-mad friend. Apparently there are no real benefits in buying organic foods if you are going to peel them anyway. And bananas were included in that.

[QueenFlounce]

Ooops - Posts crossed Tissy, I wasn't aiming that at you, it was just a discussion I had the other day with a RL person.

[snafu]

wash bananas? shurely shome mishtake?

[Tissy]

I don't just buy organic for the benefits to myself, though. The way they are farmed is far better for the environment IMO.

[tatt]

"wash bananas?"

before or after you peel them

I suppose pesticide residues on the outside could get on your hands but this sounds wierd.

[katierocket]

organic organic organic. particularly bananas. QF that is not correct, bananas absorb lots of pesticides, it's not just on the skin.

[Tommy]

DS2 does this himself as he doesn't like the end bits anyway!

[aloha]

Buy Fairtrade (ideally organic) bananas from the W Indies. Don't buy hideous US produced 'dollar bananas' - they are full of dangerous chemicals, produced by exploited workers who have their health put at risk by the chemicals and their working conditions (huge miscarriage rates amoung banana workers for the US companies for example), and they absolutely rape the environment.
Spend the extra few pennies to support real family businesses which are decent but struggling. It will mean the difference between children going hungry and children being fed and going to school - as well as the benefits for you in terms of fewer chemicals & tastier fruit. If you felt even vaguely moved by Live8, if you care about people, buy Fairtrade bananas!

[WideWebWitch]

This doesn't surprise me. I only buy organic bananas and fair trade too if possible.

[katierocket]

exactly aloha

I still think of Motherinferior's middle class angst in the supermarket - "do I buy Fairtrade or organic bananas"

while we're on the topic of Fairtrade, never ever buy coffee that isn't Fairtrade, it is utterly immoral.

[aloha]

Given the choice, I buy Fairtrade, as they are practically organic anyway. I've seen the banana farms they come from - they are old-fashioned, traditional family businesses with very low use of chemicals etc. They can't afford to be anything else!

[cardy]

I read an article in the Times magazine a few weeks ago about the benefits of organic. The article suggested the 'must buy' organic foods in terms of levels of chemicals etc. these included root vegatables, however bananas were an 'only if you can afford it'. In the countries that they are usually imported from very few chemicals are used and if they are the skin absorbs anything and very little if any harmful chemicals get into the edible part of the banana.

I try to buy as much organic food as possible but sometimes the costs make it prohibitable, so I buy what I think the most necessary.

[QueenFlounce]

KR - Was only going by a review in a national newspaper that showed where we are being fleeced by the 'organic' market and where the real benefits in buying organic are. The whole article was fantastic, I wish I could remember where I saw it now!

I suppose I'm immoral then. I only buy fair trade coffee when it's on special offer in the Coop! It's very easy to jump on the bandwagon and call people "immoral", but isn't about knowledge??? The average Joe on the street doesn't really know why fair trade is so important..... and therefore wouldn't think it immoral not to buy that. Its a bit of a strong word IMHO.

[QueenFlounce]

Ah Cardy, posts crossed!! Thats the one!!

[katierocket]

I mean it's immoral once you realise how non fairtrade coffee is produced and its effect on the coffee growers.

[Janh]

Ethical Consumer report about bananas - it's from 1999 originally so some of the content is probably out of date but it says most banana production relied heavily on pesticides, with inadequate training of workers, lots of aerial spraying and some use of banned products.

It says Windward Island bananas are the safest (and that Geest are from there).

Sainsburys piece about Fairtrade and Organic - both from Windward Islands again.

I have definitely seen a report which said that bananas are one of the products it's worth paying the extra for (NB Sainsburys' come in bags labelled 750g, but check them out because some weigh much more)

[cardy]

I wish I has kept the article, because I now wander around the supermarket trying to remember what is worth buying organic and what isn't (don't have an unlimited budget I am afriad). I know organic milk is an impoortant one.

Organic/fairtrade. I guess it is about educating people. People don't always seek out information and only when things are made 'obvious' do they change their ways.

[tortoiseshell]

We started getting an organic veg box and an organic fruit box, and we're saving so much money by not going to the supermarket all the time - and eating much more healthily, much more veg based stuff.

[moondog]

Better still, avoid the supermarket as much as possible. It is a complete myth that it is more convenient. The stress of the parking (and getting riled by the oafs hogging the bays for the disabled and mothers&babies),the garish lighting,the queueing,the slack jawed masses poking and prodding the frozen reconstituted sawdust that masquerades as food,the blaring announcements and so on, conspire to make me feel very depressed.

We do a 'real' shop once or twice a week,going to the few independent shops remaining in my town,talking to people,discussing our purchases and so on. Granted it is time consuming,but not excessively so and I feel my children get a lot out of the experience.

[roosmum]

moondog - what sort of shops exactly (do you eat meat?), & isn't it a hassle to get all the stuff around town/home?
have recently started buying organic, but still do the supermarket run. am consistenly to see the junk people fill their trollies with...def almost enough to make me seek out local small food shops like you do, but not sure how realistic a poss this wd be...?

[starlover]

tortoiseshell who do you use for your organic fruit/veg box?
am thinking of trying abel and cole...

i can't believe you're supposed to waste 4cm of banana!!!! i have been eating bananas my whole life (near enough) and have never cut the bloody end off.... and i'm not dead yet!

[jessicaandbumpsmummy]

i cut the bottom end off because its usually got a black nasty bit in it, but other than that no!

[potty1]

It's certainly got me thinking - I eat the ends of my bananas and the kids' too as they don't like them!