bananas:Chiquita
BANANAS!
Beth, Jon, and IWe visited Chiquita the other day where we learned basically everything you may need to know about banana plants. Bananas grow in tropical regions that are about 10 degrees from the equator. Chiquita owns about 15,000 hectares of banana farms. They shipped 136 million boxes of bananas in 2004. 10 percent of the workforce in Costa Rica works in the banana industry. I already covered the banana production process in previous posts so I will focus on other things we learned while visiting Chiquita.
Chiquita is aware of the importance of environmental responsibility. The farms are visited annually by Rainforest Alliance auditors to make sure that the banana farm environment meets the set standards. Some of these standards include: conservation of soil and water, minimal use of pesticides, wildlife protection and other areas like environmental education. They also check on fair pair and safe working conditions for employees. It is important to point out that they do not have one bit of tolerance when it comes to deforestation.
There are many things that Chiquita has done to practice environmental responsibility. The agrichemicals that Chiquita uses have been approved by the USA EPA and the European Union. They also make sure to only use the least amounts of toxic chemicals possible. Chiquita has also planted at least a million trees in many different places. They have the water monitored and have made traps that are used to keep organic waste from polluting rivers etc. Because there are still some pesticides that need to be used, they make sure to train the workers very well to be aware of how to use them safely.
After the bananas go through the initial production process, they are sent to the packing station. We were able to watch the workers as they packed the bananas at Chiquita. Once the bananas are transported to the packing station they are weighed and counted. The bananas are then cut and placed in tanks of water that clean them. They stay in these tanks for about 10 minutes to make sure that the latex used does not stain the bananas. If the fruit does not meet the standards they can be sold under a different label or they can also be sent to a processing plant.
The bananas that make it through the initial inspection are put on a tray to be packed. Believe it or not, the workers at Chiquita put the stickers on by hand! There is one last shower the bananas are sent through that seals that cut and prevents rotting. Next the box is packed and it is stamped with the date and a code. The boxes are them stacked on pallets and strips from recycled bananas bags are used to protect them and then they are finally loaded into containers.
There are some more interesting things we learned about bananas while visiting Chiquita. One stem will contain 120 to 150 bananas and a box of bananas holds 100 bananas. Then a contained will hold 960 boxes. An average person from the US will eat more than 25 lbs. of bananas a year. Here’s a little fun fact: Chiquita is a word that is used to describe something small and feminine
Chiquita is aware of the importance of environmental responsibility. The farms are visited annually by Rainforest Alliance auditors to make sure that the banana farm environment meets the set standards. Some of these standards include: conservation of soil and water, minimal use of pesticides, wildlife protection and other areas like environmental education. They also check on fair pair and safe working conditions for employees. It is important to point out that they do not have one bit of tolerance when it comes to deforestation.
There are many things that Chiquita has done to practice environmental responsibility. The agrichemicals that Chiquita uses have been approved by the USA EPA and the European Union. They also make sure to only use the least amounts of toxic chemicals possible. Chiquita has also planted at least a million trees in many different places. They have the water monitored and have made traps that are used to keep organic waste from polluting rivers etc. Because there are still some pesticides that need to be used, they make sure to train the workers very well to be aware of how to use them safely.
After the bananas go through the initial production process, they are sent to the packing station. We were able to watch the workers as they packed the bananas at Chiquita. Once the bananas are transported to the packing station they are weighed and counted. The bananas are then cut and placed in tanks of water that clean them. They stay in these tanks for about 10 minutes to make sure that the latex used does not stain the bananas. If the fruit does not meet the standards they can be sold under a different label or they can also be sent to a processing plant.
The bananas that make it through the initial inspection are put on a tray to be packed. Believe it or not, the workers at Chiquita put the stickers on by hand! There is one last shower the bananas are sent through that seals that cut and prevents rotting. Next the box is packed and it is stamped with the date and a code. The boxes are them stacked on pallets and strips from recycled bananas bags are used to protect them and then they are finally loaded into containers.
There are some more interesting things we learned about bananas while visiting Chiquita. One stem will contain 120 to 150 bananas and a box of bananas holds 100 bananas. Then a contained will hold 960 boxes. An average person from the US will eat more than 25 lbs. of bananas a year. Here’s a little fun fact: Chiquita is a word that is used to describe something small and feminine
posted by Emily @ 3:46 PM
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