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Article: World food: It may be a sweet little banana, but now it's coming out fighting Almost crushed by the power of globalisation and Latin American rivals, some Caribbean growers have forged a link with a British firm that may be their salvation, writes Hester Lacey
- Article from:
- The Independent on Sunday (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 7, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2004 The Independent on Sunday. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In the humid depths of his banana farm, Ben Emmanuel is
deflowering his young fruit. This is less alarming than it sounds. It
simply means pinching off the withered flower heads from the tips of
the baby bananas. If they're allowed to remain in place, they turn
black and spoil the look of the fruit. Ben's farm is at Cul de Sac,
near Castries, on the island of St Lucia. Now 40, Ben graduated in
business administration from Monroe College in the US, before
rejoining the family business, and has farmed his eight acres for 16
years.
Bananas are unique in that they have no season; they flower and
fruit all year round. They are a constant source of cash, which is
how they earned their nickname ...