Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World: The mystery of "going bananas."

Upcoming Events/Recent Media

DECEMBER 17: I'll be giving a talk at the Wilton Public Library, in Wilton, Connecticut. Topic: Banana Diversity - and replacing our threatened supermarket variety.
OCTOBER 28: I spoke at the Latin American Institute of the University of Southern California about corporate fruit, alternate banana supply chains, and how to reverse a century of banana monoculture. More info here, and thanks to UCLA for hosting me!
AUGUST 28: Fenella Saunders, writing in the September/October 2008 issue of American Scientist, said my book was "mouthwatering" and "eloquent."
JULY 26: Radio New Zealand's "This Way Up," hosted by Simon Morton. This was one of the most enjoyable interviews I've done; the host is funny, and we got to hit on a lot of topics. Show link here. Podcast here.
JULY 24: The BBC's Brazil Service features an article written by Lucas Mendes, based on an interview he did with me on the future of the fruit. (Brazil is the world's second largest banana growing country, after India.) In Portuguese. Machine-generated English translation here. A televised version of the interview with Mr. Mendes is coming up soon.
JUNE 28: Vikram Doctor, writing in The Economic Times of India, features "Banana" in a an amazing two-part series that highlights the stunning diversity of his country's banana crop. This is truly a great article - you'll find dozens of different banana types listed here, along with stories about the way people eat (and love) the fruit in the world's top banana-growing (and most banana-crazed) nation. Part one here, part two here.
JUNE 20: One of my favorite public radio programs - NPR's To The Point, syndicated out of my local station, KCRW, interviews me about the future of the banana.
JUNE 20: The Daily Green uses the book and my New York Times column to put rising banana prices in historical context.
JUNE 19: Stephen J. Dubner, writing in his Freakonomics blog, says that my article answers a question he's "long wondered about: why are bananas so cheap relative to other fruit, especially since a lot of the fruit we consume in the U.S. is grown here while bananas are not?" (The book goes into detail about this, and more, of course!)
JUNE 19: Lewis Lapham, in The Huffington Post, writes about the book and the history of the banana republics in Central America.
JUNE 19: WFMY News, Greensboro/Winston-Salem/Highpoint, North Carolina, offers a video report on banana prices; I'm interviewed in it. Video here. Article here.
JUNE 18: Paul Krugman, again in his NYT blog, recommends the book.
JUNE 10: Guest spot on "After Hours," Canada's Business News Network. Go here; my segment is about three-fourths of the way in. (I have to say, I need some practice for television.)
MAY 22: Johann Hari, in The Independent, explains why "bananas are a parable for our times," and describes the book as "brilliant." This story was picked up in dozens of other media outlets.
MAY 14: I absolutely love Scienceblogs.com - there are over a dozen essential commentators writing there - and one of my favorites is Razib Khan, who runs the Gene Expressions blog. He did an extended and thoughtful review of the book and the issues surrounding it.
APRIL 23: Steve Mirsky interviewed me for the Scientific American's podcast. Topic: "Can Science Save the Banana?" Listen here. This was a fun one.
APRIL 20: Paul Krugman, blogging in the New York Times, recommends my book. He's reading an electronic version of it on an Amazon Kindle.
MARCH 17: The Nation calls "Banana" a "tale of a threatened species and the scientific heroes hunting to save the fruit," and a book with "a driving force and an urgency."
MARCH 13: Banana on American Public Media's "Splendid Table" - the ultimate radio show for foodies. Station listing here. Direct download here. Podcast here.
MARCH 8: Toronto Globe & Mail (March 8, 2008 ) calls "Banana" a "hard-nosed journalistic account" and "the book you've been looking for if you've heard rumours that the phallic golden fruit that adorns the breakfast table might be heading for extinction."
FEBRUARY 18: "Banana" on NPR's "Fresh Air." Download/Podcasts here.
FEBRUARY 14: Leonard Lopate's "Underreported," WNYC (New York Public Radio). Listen here.
FEBRUARY 11: Interview on Public Radio International's "Marketplace." Listen here.

Filmmakers Under Fire

"The Affected" is a new documentary that chronicles the lives of banana and sugar plantation workers in modern-day Latin America - and has uncovered a startling, ongoing nightmare: an epidemic of kidney failure among sugar workers, possibly related to pesticide exposure. The work the filmmakers have been doing has led to the killing of one crew member, and threats on the lives of others. You can read more about "The Affected" - and learn how you can help - here.

"Banana" in the Blogs

December 10, 2007

The mystery of "going bananas."

Everybody knows what "going bananas" means: you've just turned plain cuckoo. But what are the origins of the phrase? Strangely, even the most authoritative source on Anglo etymology, The Oxford English Dictionary, isn't sure. The first known usage of the term has been credited to a 1968 academic publication, which noted that Kentucky college students were saying it.

It seems difficult to believe that such a common phrase could be less than four decades old. But there's some sense to the notion: it was during the late 1960s that rumors spread across university campuses that roasted banana peels had psychedelic properties, and that ingesting them could lead to hallucinations similar to ones brought on by LSD or psilocybin ("magic") mushrooms. (It isn't true, folks.) The reference to students in the OED entry - at least to me - gives weight to the argument that the phrase may only date back to the era of freak-outs, flower children, and free love.

Oxford suspects that the term is older.

Earlier this year, placed "going bananas" on its official "Balderdash and Piiffle Wordhunt" list, a compilation of lexicographical items whose provenance is still mostly unknown. The dictionary's editors, along with the BBC, which cosponsors the "hunt," ask the public if they can trace the beginnings of the terms further back in time. In the case of "going bananas," the request seeks "verifiable evidence before 1968" or "information on the origins of the phrase." The reference source goes on to ask:

"Did you go bananas before 1968? It's one of many fruity terms associated with mental incapacity, like fruitcake and crazy as a coconut. But what's so mad about a bunch of bananas? The OED would like you to set their minds at rest by providing them with earlier datable evidence."

Other words on the list include "regime change," which currently dates back to 1990; and "kinky" (1959.) When it comes to bananas, the clock may already have been pushed back. The hunt has revealed that in 1957, a newspaper in Ohio used the term "bananas" - without the verb - to describe a crazed lawbreaker. Not quite the same, but close.

Posted on December 10, 2007 in Banana Culture | Permalink