Yes, we may have no bananas.
Seriously. That's straight from the mouth of the United Nations. And you know what practical jokesters those guys are.
A fungus that’s already caused significant banana losses in Asia and Africa is now “menacing” Latin America, the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned this week.
That’s not funny.
The result could be “grave repercussions for the banana value chain.”
The banana value chain?
Alright, maybe it’s a teensy bit funny.
"I think we'll be OK," chuckled Kara Pringle, owner of Cupcakes So Sweet in Austell, where they sell a yummy Banana Cream cupcake on Thursdays and Fridays.
Pringle wasn’t the only metro Atlantan we talked to on Thursday who hadn’t heard anything about a looming Bananaocaplyse. Others — a smoothie chain and several restaurants featuring banana-centric menu items — either declined to comment or didn’t return phone calls.
Maybe they thought we were, uh, bananas.
True, the fungus-spawned “Fusarium wilt” hasn’t really hit Latin America yet — the FAO’s warning was aimed at spurring stepped-up monitoring and prevention efforts. But 70 percent of the world’s banana exports are grown in the region, Salon reports. So we do have some peel in the game here.
Unless you really like the idea of paying $11.95 for a banana nut mini-muffin.
So not funny.
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