Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the First Peoples – the Traditional Owners of the lands where we live and work, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the research zingHOUSEunlimited undertakes.

BANANA VARIETIES

In Australia banana's have their fans and mostly it is all to do with their sweet taste and flavour. Nonetheless, two varieties dominate in the market which by-and-large is focused upon 'the fruit as a dessert treat'.  

Many people living in Australia, and indeed the 'Western World' generally, will be genuinely surprised to know about the enormous number of BANANAtypes out there in waiting to be discovered and added to their 'food experience'. 

Somewhat quietly in the background Australia has transitioned into a MULTIdimensional, MULTIcultural cum SOCIOpolitical entity where WESTERNparadigms are fading – albeit waxing & waning under the fluctuating influences of hegemonic  powers. Somehow, the humble banana sits within all this and all the time reflecting this and that is people's daily lives.

Australia currently enjoys a 'placedness' where Eurocentric cultural realities and sensibilities are becoming less and less dominant – and gone are the days where 'meat and three veg' is served up day after day.

Internationally, bananas are the most popular tropical fruit given that they offer great taste and nutrition. There is something like around 1,000 BANANAtypes available in SUPERmarkets, COMMUNALgardens, HOUSEHOLDgardens,  FOODpatches and idiosyncratic local STREETmarkets around the world. 

Interestingly, URBANplanners are starting to plan for 'AGRIHOODS'  where  in tropical and subtropical urban environments might well see 'banana plants' in FOODforests  in STREETscapes along with their SISTERplants – taro, cassava, coca nuts, breadfruit, bamboo, etc. etc. 

POSTpandemic and within the strictures of 'CLIMATE CHANGE' cultural landscapes within which 'the banana' figures is an increasing likelihood.

Yet right now in Australia, essentially there are only two BANANAtypes available to 'consumers' in what is basically a ONEdimensional  PERIcolonial cultural reality – albeit one where the pressure for change is escalating.

Each and everyone of the world's BANANAtypes come with a unique colour and flavour. Not all are valued are valued as a 'desert treat' as many appear in cuisines as a 'vegetable' for their 'starchiness' along with a range of 'food plants'. Indeed, many BANANAtypes are an integral part of a great many cultures 'staple diet'. Interestingly, in Fijian culture 'starchy foods' are regarded as TRUEfoods with 'protean' – seafood etc. – being imagined as 'ancillary'.

The BANANAtypes that appear on SUPERmarket shelves are to a large extent FOODmanifestations of the Western World's 19th & 20th COLONIALexpansionism.

 SO, let's start to explore the diversity of THEbanana! 

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CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT
CLICK TO TREAD ABOUT THE BLUEbanana
AN AUST PERSPECTIVE RELATIVE TO THEbanana

NOTE:...All Cavendish bananas are clones of a plant first cultivated by John Paxton, gardener for William Cavendish, sixth Duke of Devonshire, from seeds sent by a missionary in Mauritania.

Why are bamanas so cheap to buy? CLICK HERE
 

Consult the banana cultivar checklist, where the goal is to list t he various 'vernacular names' given to banana cultivars and identify which ones are synonyms – different names that refer to the same clone – and homonyms – similar names that refer to different clones.

 
MUSAPEDIA ON EDIBLE BANANAS
Cultivars
 
Improved Materials
CLICK ON A NAME AND DISCOVER



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