Isaiah Hunter

WR 123
10:00
Bananas Such As These Are What Everyone Needs

The Lorax, by Dr. Suess, is a fable exposing the plantations of

environmental injustice, chemically drenched greed, and the peelings of economic

manipulation. But, it is after all, a children’s story. It first introduces the reader to a grim

setting in which “the wind smells slow and sour when it blows and no birds ever sing

there excepting old crows”.1 We are then introduced to our first character, the Lorax, who

has been lifted away. The only person who knows who has done this, is our second

character, the Onceler. Now, the Onceler, “who lurks in his lurkem” will tell us who

lifted the Lorax away, if we are willing to pay.2 Once we have surrendered to his

conditions he then begins to recount the events in which a former paradise was

transformed into its current, dreary state.

“Way back in the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet

and the clouds were still clean...” he begins.3 He was traveling and came across this lush

landscape thriving with, “Swami-Swans”, “brown Barbaloots”, and “Humingfish”. These

were beautiful, but not like the “Truffula trees”. He had been waiting all his life to find

these trees and in no time at all he set up shop and began to construct “thneeds”, which,

as he says, everyone needs. The Lorax then made his appearance by immerging from a

stump of a Truffula tree. He claimed to speak for the trees and all the creatures that

depend on them. He then told the Onceler to stop chopping his trees, saying how no one

on earth would buy a thneed. The Onceler ignored him and claimed “business is

1
Dr. Suess, The Lorax
2
Dr. Suess, The Lorax
3
Dr. Suess, The Lorax
business” as he began to “bigger” his business to make more money which he added,

everyone needs. This “biggering” eventually lead to the complete deterioration of the

environment and forced the Swami-Swans, Barbaloots, and Hummingfish to migrate to a

hospitable home. All the while the Lorax was spewing lackluster warnings until

eventually, him too, had to go. We then learn he lifted himself away.

The Lorax was wrong; someone, a chap, did buy the thneed. Who bought it? Why

did they buy it? We don’t know, but what is evident is that whoever bought it either didn’t

know or care where it came from or the impact it had on the environment. Today, this

story is remarkably comparable to the production of bananas in Latin America and the

enormous demand by industrial countries for them. Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala

are among the largest exporters of bananas in the world and their political, economic, and

social transformations have been highly dependant on transnational fruit companies such

as; Dole, Del Monte, and Chiquita4. Although transnational fruit companies provide

employment, revenue, and development of company towns in these countries, the

methods used to cultivate bananas and the subsequent waste has negatively impacted the

region. Workers and their families have been mistreated, the land has been scarred by

constant chemical showering and deforestation, and the wildlife has been displaced or

killed5. These are not facts written on the stickers stuck to the skin of one of the world’s

most common fruits.

In the late 19th century the Costa Rican government sought out Minor Keith, an

American, to build a transnational railroad system connecting Central America to North

America.6 He traveled to Costa Rica and noticed the possibility of cultivating the land

4
http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/ecopolicies.htm
5
McCracken, Carrie.http://members.tripod.com/foro_amaus/BanPlantsCA.htm
6
http://www.chiquita.com/CompanyInfo/History.aspx
along side the railroad he was constructing. Just as the Onceler saw the potential in the

Truffula trees, Keith saw the potential of the banana. Just ten years earlier the fruit was

newly introduced to the United States when a ship was exporting them from their native

land of Asia to Jamaica. It became popular very quickly and as a result the Boston Fruit

Company was formed. Keith, being an entrepreneur, saw the success of the banana and

planted them along his transnational railroad. Through his own success he was able to

attain undeveloped land to further his cultivations. The Boston Fruit Company had taken

notice and in 1889, they formed a merger with Keith and as a result The United Fruit

Company was established, being the first to commercially grow and sell bananas in a

large scale. Over the next century the success of the banana created other transnational

fruit companies, the largest being: Chiquita Brands (formerly United Fruit), Dole, and

Del Monte.

In the Lorax, dependency is a constant. The Swami-Swans depend on clean air to

sing, the Truffula trees depend on the Lorax to speak for them, the Onceler depends on us

to buy his thneed to make money, and as consumers we depend on the Onceler to provide

us with thneeds, as they are perfect and as soft as silk. When we observe the economic

structure of Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala it is evident that they depend on the

revenue, employment and development produced from the large transnational fruit

companies. In Costa Rica alone, banana plantations employ five to ten percent of the total

population.7 About 39% of the world’s banana exports originate from the Latin American

region and with worldwide banana exports generating $5.6 billion annually it is easy to

see the effects the fruit companies have on the local economies.8 Not only do these

7
McCracken, Carrie.http://members.tripod.com/foro_amaus/BanPlantsCA.htm
8
http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/banana/ecopolicies.htm
transnational fruit companies provide a vast source of income and employment for these

developing countries but they also develop large swaths of land for their employees to

live on. Because these banana plantations are so isolated from major cities, the fruit

companies have built company towns in and around their plantations. They have built

homes, schools, and hospitals in the area to eliminate the commute to work.9 Many of the

areas were previously undeveloped land such as forests, swamps and marshes. These

transnational fruit companies have greatly contributed to the development of the Latin

American region but, like the Onceler, they too have left their mark.

A banana plantation requires a large mass of clear land. In order to obtain this

there needs to be heavy deforestation. As a result creatures, like the barbaloots, must

move to find food and new homes. “According to some estimates, close to 35% of the

banana plantations currently operating are on lands, which were covered by forests at the

time of purchase by the transnational companies. Due to this deforestation, 18 tree

species are in grave danger of becoming extinct, not to mention the needless death of

numerous wild animals, including monkeys, birds, and sloths”.10 Taken from an article on

the loss of biodiversity due to banana plantations in Costa Rica, this passage highlights

some of the sacrifices to bring the world’s 5th consumed commodity to our kitchen tables.

With 75% of the earths biodiversity thriving in forests like these, deforestation is a

serious threat to the ecosystem that so many plant and animal life depend on.11

Deforestation is but one contributor, among many, to the problems surrounding

the methods used to grow and sell bananas. Another grisly component is the use of heavy

use of chemicals. Chemicals are sprayed onto bananas for many reasons, one being to
9
McCracken, Carrie. McCracken, Carrie.http://members.tripod.com/foro_amaus/BanPlantsCA.htm
10
http://teachers.oregon.k12.wi.us/sundstrom/Environmental%20Science/Outcome%202/Biodiversity%20
Readings/Article%20Costa%20Rica%20Banana%20Industry.pdf
11
Carrie. McCracken, Carrie.http://members.tripod.com/foro_amaus/BanPlantsCA.htm
protect them from pests and fungi. Because of the high alluvial rainfall in regions where

conditions are optimal for banana harvesting, the agrochemicals soak into the soil,

contaminating it, and then are washed away into streams and rivers causing the death

many aquatic species. “Sediments from overused land and agrochemical runoff are

contributing to coral reef deterioration off the coasts of Costa Rica. Tortoises and

manatees are facing extinction partly due to the fact that pesticide runoff kills the algae

on which they feed.”12 About 90% of the Costa Rican coral reefs have been destroyed

due to this runoff and as a result there has been a loss the diverse array of fish and algae

that depend on them.13 Swami-Swans cannot sing a note with smog in their throat,

hummingfish cannot hum when their gills are all gummed, and most certainly, humans

cannot survive when they are showered with pesticides.

Yes, workers have been exposed to these agrochemicals which have drastic long

and short term effects. A YouTube video entitled Plastic Bananas, comments on

aerial chemical showering and how it adversely affects not only the workers, but also the

families who live in the towns built amongst the banana plantations. “The pesticides get

drifted away, away from the bananas. They drift to the houses, daycare centers, schools,

and churches.”14 The local women speaking in the video, further comments on the effects

on the population. “The children go into school in the morning and they get hit by the

pesticides and they become itchy and cough, but those are just the immediate effects. The

long term effects of pesticides are cancer, blindness and serious respiratory illnesses.”15

These aerial sprayings occur on banana plantations controlled by the large transnational

12
http://www.plu.edu/~bananas/environmental/home.html
13
Carrie. McCracken, Carrie.http://members.tripod.com/foro_amaus/BanPlantsCA.htm
14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5vMkIncPMg&feature=channel_page
15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5vMkIncPMg&feature=channel_page
fruit companies in areas such as Guatemala, Ecuador, and the Philippines. Waste is also a

dangerous component to the deterioration of worker health and safety. Farmers, unable to

read english, have been seen using empty pesticide containers to store food and water.16

With all the inherent dangers of the chemicals, it is imperative to control their runoff and

waste to prevent illnesses caused by them. Once, all the Truffula trees were chopped and

all the animals left, the Lorax himself had to leave. The workers on the plantations could

suffer the same fate as well.

Unlike the story of the Lorax, all the trees have not been cut down, the forests are

still rich in biodiversity, and the big transnational fruit companies are starting to listen to

the concerns of their workers and environmentalists. In 1991, the Better Banana Project

(BBP) was first initiated. The BBP, commonly known as the ECO-O.K., aims to

“minimize the environmental impacts of banana farms, erosion problems and pollution

from chemicals, while maximizing benefits to workers and communities”.17 In order to

receive and ECO-O.K. certification, a banana plantation must meet strict environmental

and social standards such as: offering a permanent training program for workers

informing them of the proper use and application of agrochemicals, not apply

agrochemicals less than 100 meters from springs of water, and not utilize agrochemicals

which have been prohibited by the US and/or the European Community.18 A certificate is

only valid for one year and is only renewed upon an annual checkup by trained
inspectors.

Chiquita, is the first fruit company to have 100% of all their banana farms in Latin

America to meet these standards.19 Dole and Del Monte are not even close but they have
16
Carrie. McCracken, Carrie.http://members.tripod.com/foro_amaus/BanPlantsCA.htm
17
http://www.icriforum.org/secretariat/banana.html
18
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Issue/pn21/PN21P12a.htm
19
http://www.chiquita.com/CompanyInfo/History.aspx
been making efforts to reduce their carbon foot print by using bio diesel to fuel their

trucks.

At the end of the Lorax we are torn back to the grim setting and once more we

smell the sourness of the wind. The Onceler has realized that it is not too late; “Unless

someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not”. 20

He then tosses down the last of the Truffula seeds in the hopes that we will protect the

next generation of trees so that maybe, the Lorax and all his friends will come back. The

future now depends on us, will we bring the Lorax back? We cannot boycott bananas to

teach the transnational fruit companies a lesson; Latin America heavily depends upon

their contributions. We can however, look for fruit to purchase that has the ECO-O.K

certification or even spend the few extra cents to buy organic. On average, Americans

consume 28 pounds of bananas a year, with a multi-billion dollar industry depending

upon our purchases, we have the power; we have the seed.21 Do we repeat the mistakes of

the Onceler, do we repeat ours? What comes next hasn’t been written yet.

Other Sources

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18koeppel.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=&st=nyt

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/books/review/Kurtz-Phelan-t.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=&st=nyt

3. http://www.globalissues.org/article/241/bananas

20
Dr. Suess, The Lorax
21
http://www.foodnutritionscience.com/index.cfm/do/monsanto.article/articleId/104.cfm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungicide

7. http://www.dole.com/

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZfIrqnTEc&feature=channel_page

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFvnBrQ00Ms&feature=channel_page

10. http://ojs.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/viewFile/128/148