Banana Cultures: Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental Change in Honduras and the United States

369 Pages·2021·43.471 MB·English

by  John Soluri

banana cultures
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
BBAanNaAnNaA CCuUlLtTuUrResES
Agriculture, Consumption, and Environmental
Change in Honduras and the United States
john soluri
Revised and Updated Edition
UniversityofTexasPress Austin
Copyright © 2005 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Second paperback printing, 2006
Second edition, 2021
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to:
Permissions
University of Texas Press
P.O. Box 7819
Austin, TX 78713-7819
www.utexas.edu/utpress/about/bpermission.html
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Names: Soluri, John, author.
Title: Banana cultures : agriculture, consumption, and environmental change in
Honduras and the United States / John Soluri.
Description: Second edition. | Austin : University of Texas Press, 2021. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020040387
ISBN 978-1-4773-2280-2 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4773-2281-9 (library ebook)
ISBN 978-1-4773-2282-6 (nonlibrary ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Banana trade—Honduras. | Banana trade—Social aspects—
Honduras. | Banana trade—Environmental aspects—Honduras. |
Banana trade—United States. | Banana trade—Social aspects—United States.
Classification: LCC HD9259.B3 H678 2021 | DDC 306.3/49097283—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040387
doi:10.7560/322802
ForAmalia
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
CCOoNntTeEnNtsTS
PPrreeffaaccee toi xthe Second Edition: Bananas, Seriously ix
PArcekfnacoew tloe dthgme Feinrtsst Edxiition xvii
introduction ALicnkkninogwPleldacgemseonftPsr odxuixctionandConsumption 1
intrcohdaupctteiorn1 LGioniknigngB Panlaacnesa sof P1r8oduction and Consumption 1
cchhaapptteerr 21 GSpoaincge BInavnaadnearss 4181
cchhaapptteerr 23 SApltaecree dInLvaandderssc ap4es1andTransformedLivelihoods 75
cchhaapptteerr 43 ASilgtearteodk aL,aSncdiesncacep,esa nadndC Tornatrnoslform10e4d Livelihoods 75
cchhaapptteerr 45 SRiegvaitsoitkian,g StchieenGcere, eanndP rCisoonntrol1 28104
cchhaapptteerr 65 RTehveisLitivinegs athned GTriemene oPfriMsoinss C1h2i8quita 161
cchhaapptteerr 76 LThaeQ Luivímesi caand T19im3 e of Miss Chiquita 161
cchhaapptteerr 87 LBaa nQauníamCicual tur1e9s3inComparativePerspective 216
chapter 8 BNaonteasna C24u7ltures in Comparative Perspective 216
PBoibsltisocgrripatp thoy the2 9S3econd Edition: Beyond Banana Cultures 246
NInodteexs 321655
Bibliography 312
Index 338
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Preface to the Second Edition
BANANAS, SERIOUSLY
The second edition of any book owes a big debt to readers of the first
edition; I am very grateful to the researchers, teachers, and particularly
students who have made the time to read Banana Cultures. I also want to
acknowledge some of the institutions and organizations that enabled the
book to be written and published.
I have devoted more than twenty years to working my “first job” in
Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of History. I am deeply ambiv-
alent about working for an institution whose annual student tuition and
fees equal the median family income in the United States and whose fac-
ulty consists disproportionately of white men (including yours truly). My
department, however, has provided me with a humane teaching load, the
license to create unconventional courses, and the financial support to
attend conferences and do research in some faraway places. It also sustains
a wonderful group of scholar/teachers who inspire me and drink beer with
me, sometimes simultaneously.
For the publication of Banana Cultures, I am deeply grateful to the
University of Texas Press, a publicly supported press that has helped to
educate readers about Latin America for a long time. I am pleased that the
positive reception of Banana Cultures has validated the editors’ decision
to publish it. I also want to thank the press for letting me retain trans-
lation rights. Although my effort to publish a Spanish-language version
of Banana Cultures in Honduras was upended (along with many more
important initiatives) by the 2009 overthrow of the government of Man-
uel Zelaya, Culturas Bananeras (2013) was eventually published, thanks to
friends and institutions in Colombia, including Siglo del Hombre Press
and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. The modest but steady royalty
checks from Banana Cultures covered the costs of translation.
The American Society for Environmental History (ASEH), the Con-
ference on Latin American History (CLAH), and the Sociedad Latino-
americana y Caribeña de Historia Ambiental (SOLCHA) have all provided