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LONDON, United Kingdom — [Editor's note: This article originaly appeared at BusinessGreen.com's Sceptic Tank blog and is reprinted with permission.]
As was foretold in the Book of Revelation, the End Times are fast-approaching, heralded by natural disaster, war, famine, and the kind of rampaging profligacy that gives you Del Monte's plastic-wrapped single serve bananas.
Sometimes a picture is a worth a thousand words, so just take a few moments to cast your eye over the image opposite and marvel at the mind that has delivered such an obscenity to common sense, nature and every attempt the food industry has ever made to improve its environmental credentials.
Then again, sometimes you still need words to try and express the utter crushing futility of it all. This has to be a joke, right? You're desperately clinging to the hope you've somehow woken up on April 1, aren't you?
As Daily Show host Jon Stewart observed while inducting the item into the show's Pantry of Shame: "What function does the bag serve that the peel does not serve?"
If there is anyone out there that can answer that question, please get in touch.
Apparently, there is some talk in the blogosphere that the plastic wrapping will make bananas last longer and reduce waste and delivery journeys. Which sounds good, but does not get away from the fact it is a single banana, wrapped in plastic.
The Sceptic Tank's already tentative faith in humanity has been shaken, and we really need to know what Del Monte was thinking.
It's the same reason potato
It's the same reason potato chips come in a sealed bag - it's not natural air in there! It's mostly nitrogen. The banana ripens via enzymatic process of oxygen when deprived of nourishment from the tree (see: cut from the branch). If you deprive the banana of oxygen you control it's ripening speed.
You "green" people really don't understand basic chemistry? Or google? Great journalism.
I think their plan is to have
I think their plan is to have a vending machine with fresh fruit, I certainly wouldn't want to purchase unwrapped food from a vending machine. Just a thought. I still think it's stupid though. It would also make them ripen faster because the gases released are not able to escape the plastic so it causes the banana to ripen quicker... Seems like a dumb plan that convinces us to buy individual bananas at a higher cost. Profit for Del Monte though.
Please speak up with your
Please speak up with your 'cash' and do not purchase any Del Monte products (if it is in fact the case that plastic and not some biodegradable packaging is being used). Also, go to the website and let them know how disappointed you are...if enough people speak up and act with their checkbooks, they will have no choice but to change. http://www.delmonte.com/contactus/Contact.aspx
-Kevin
I just checked the Del Monte
I just checked the Del Monte website. The single serve banana is part of their "Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Vending Line". I guess in that context it kind of makes sense.
whats really sad is that they
whats really sad is that they didn't even try to put this bag in a cardboard box and then wrap it in plastic again. As a plastics stockholder, I am irritated!
[/s]
April fools' noobs.
April fools' noobs.
Oh, ouch! You got me! Good
Oh, ouch! You got me! Good one.
the bag is to keep the pickle
the bag is to keep the pickle juice from going all over the place.
Perhaps they put a gas in the
Perhaps they put a gas in the bag that makes the banana ripen slower?
Bananas release a gas which
Bananas release a gas which cause other bananas (or any fruit really) ripen quicker...thus the plastic makes those single bananas stay fresh longer.
I would imagine the bag is
I would imagine the bag is filled with the same gas that they use in the cases of bananas to prevent them from ripening too fast.
Bananas release a gas which
Bananas release a gas which cause other bananas (or any fruit really) ripen quicker...thus the plastic makes those single bananas stay fresh longer.
"Apparently, there is some
"Apparently, there is some talk in the blogosphere that the plastic wrapping will make bananas last longer and reduce waste and delivery journeys."
how on earth adding a PLASTIC WRAP to something is reducing waste ??
It's reducing the waste of
It's reducing the waste of the product (in this case bananas). I know in my family there always tends to be a few spoiled bananas that get tossed in the garbage. If the plastic wrap helps them to stay fresh longer then there'll (hopefully) be less wasted bananas (not to mention people will have the ability to only purchase as many as they'll eat before the product expires).
Don't buy so many bananas.
Don't buy so many bananas. Or if you do, you can dry them or when they go bad, make banana bread. No plastic is needed.
Take really ripe banannas,
Take really ripe banannas, break them into a blender to about 2/3 full, add milk to the same level, a few tablespoons of honey, maybe some coconut, blend and drink the bananna milk! Yum!
The Down Fall of Banana
The Down Fall of Banana Bread. The purpose of older/over-ripe bananas is to mash them up and make banana bread or other such delicacies.
Don't buy so many then
Don't buy so many then
I'd imaging the function of
I'd imaging the function of the wrap is advertising and raising brand awareness. It's very hard, if not imposable, to stamp a Del Monte logo on the actual banana, but stick it in a plastic bag, and you cover it in all kinds of logos. Not the I'm defending this or anything, it's the only thing I can think off that makes some kind of sense.
But bunches of bananas bought
But bunches of bananas bought from the store have brand name & logo stickers on them. Why any different for a single banana?