Wednesday, October 04, 2006

I don't eat bananas

















I haven't had a banana in the past six months. Why? The price used to be around A$3 to A$4 a kilo but went through the roof (A$12 a kilo = approx US$9, or 7 euros) after Cyclone Larry crossed the tropical north Queensland coast on March 20 this year. In the regions of Innisfail, Tully and Atherton, 80% to 95% of the banana plantations were destroyed. Australia protecting its local farmers will not allow imports, so whatever little is left sells at shocking prices. Well, we''ll just have to wait till the new banana trees start yielding again (about a year I believe) ... and in the meantime, keep eating apples! How much are the bananas where you live?
More about cyclone Larry and the Queensland banana industry here.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The bananas are laughing at us because they know that we can't live without them. The y also doubled in price her in NZ. Between 3 and 4 NZ Dollars., I think.

If it is warm enough to got to the beach – I envy you is still so cold here.

Best wishes

Mostly Harmless said...

Hi, Nathalie. Thanks for all the nice comments you left at my blog.
Bananas here are about $0.80/kilo. I think that's close to par with your dollar. We import 100% of our bananas from Central and South America.

Anonymous said...

The price has gone bananas doen here too, although it does slowly seem to be getting better. Under the $10 mark now.

Anonymous said...

:)
Dont worry,Nathatlie, apple tastes better than bananas I think before the banana trees grow up...
In shanghai, banana can be seen everywhere.It is not expensive, around 5RMB =0.63USD /kg. But now I am eating the pomelo!! LOL...
:D
...Jing

Sadia said...

Oh no! Bananas are so essential. Around here, (northeast, usa) they are about $2.99 for a bunch at my local farmers market. Also, your profile photo is adorable.

rauf said...

What ever I can afford is very cheap. I can still afford bananas Nathalie, grown in abundance here.
But my last visit to Bangalore shocked me, each banana was 4 rupees, about 10 cents. but that was a rare occasion. Here in chennai its 15 cents a dozen. In Kerala it is still cheaper. A 1000 kilometer comfortable train journey costs less than 10 dollars. So I travel a lot.

Anonymous said...

i wish i can send you some but yea apples are healthier to eat..

btw i like the photo

Anonymous said...

if no one is buying due to the price, with such short shelf life, it will be wasted in the end, no?

Anonymous said...

Wow. did not know the prices of bananas in Oz has gone up so much.

Here in Singapore, a bunch of 5 bananas that I usually get is around SGD1.30 or around AUD1

Like Jing, I am having pomelos now. yum yum...

Unknown said...

Here in Nottingham (check out my blog) we are awash with bananas. We can buy a kilo for about a dollar. They of course all come from overseas, as it's too cold here to grow them, but great for apples!

Meg said...

And you don't import NZ apples, either. Pity.