This package makes me angry. Bananas are already perfectly packed by nature, how fucked up does one have to be in the head to think it would be a good idea to put them in a **one time use ** plastic package?!
That’s literally the first thing I thought of while looking at that picture. There’s no good reason for this. Bananas serve many purposes from green to yellow to black. Moreover, that “one per day” gimmick won’t even give you the same ripeness.
They’d ripen faster in open air too. This whole packaging fruit trend is just stupid.
Unless it’s for accessibility. There are some niche prepackaged fruits specifically for people with arthritis and other mobility issues that actually can’t reasonably peel fruit, but these aren’t even peeled so obviously it’s not for that.
I’m not sure if that’s true as afaik bananas release some sort of heavier than air gas that causes both themselves and lots of other produce to ripen faster. The more airflow the less banana gas.
You can do the same in some stores. They put out some ripe and some unripe. Just grab a couple of each. And don’t fall for the guilt of breaking up bunches. You are allowed to do that. You don’t have to buy the whole bunch. Unless you go to a store that unnecessarily puts then in plastic containers/wraps.
And you can still rinse the banana off to get rid of any germs from inside the store if that’s the fear. It won’t damage it. But do it when you are ready to eat it otherwise if you use mild soap it can reduce the life of the banana by making the skin less protective.
Only because I like to avoid getting herbicides and pesticides on my hands which then might touch the banana flesh when pulling out the last part. I don’t use soap, but some do. I rinse all of my fruits and veggies when possible even if I remove the peel.
Yeah, but over time the damage builds up. Some of the currently popular pesticides are linked to both chromosome damage and neurological degeneration which are both cumulative.
Sure the chances of that alone causing cancer or something like Parkinson’s disease are very low. But there are lots of things around us that have similar effects. Off gassing plastics on new furniture and clothing, heavy metals in water and food, certain diseases like COVID, radiation for airplane rides and x-rays, etc. Each on of those are minuscule alone, even over a lifetime, but together they can cause issues. So things that are easily avoidable, may as well avoid. Pesticides and herbicides are mostly water soluable, so a little water can reduce the exposure significantly. And a lot of products that have peels that most people don’t eat and aren’t in the ground, so they don’t get dirty, don’t get rinsed by the growers. Some grocery stores do rinse them to make them more presentable, but not all.
Still you’re right that the only way to get toxic exposure that alone could cause cancer, Parkinson’s, etc., is if you work in the fields and aren’t given a mask. Especially if they are spraying while people are out picking. And with grocers often rinsing them, it’s not necessary.
It does also reduce your likelihood of catching COVID or other diseases from people who don’t know how to wash their hands, which we found from COVID is disturbingly common for an educated country. But again, that risk is very low.
I just feel the effort is minimal, and the possible reward is high enough that it’s worth it for me. It’s of course also a privilege of living in a place where clean water is plentiful.
Just like me trying to avoid sweeteners for decades now because I suspect they might turn out to be bad for you (and noone has ever tried to suggest they are actively good for you…) If it turns out you’re wrong, you’ve lost very little, if it turns out you’re right then there’s no way to retroactively undo the harm.
I have a fairly sensitive sense of taste and if I eat an unwashed fruit with a rind and manage to touch the actual fruit without washing my hands after touching the rind, I can often taste a bitter chemical flavour that otherwise isn’t there. How harmful those chemicals may be and how exposed I’d be without directly transfering them to the food or to my mouth (or eyes or whatever) I’m unsure (and, tbh, while I always wash oranges and stuff, I often eat bananas unwashed as there’s no need for the outside to come into direct or indirect contact with the actual fruit itself.) I’d still prefer to just not eat whatever it is if I can trivially avoid it (both for possible safety reasons and just not having my food taste like bitter chemicals reasons.)
I need them to flip the whole thing. Green bananas are best bananas, and you use the ones that have overripened in your chartreuse-fueled negligence to hastily make banana bread in an effort to excuse yourself. Repeat forever.
Have you ever had the chance to try plantains? They’re a bit like bananas but for cooking and while they can be used yellow, generally they are used green.
I think I've had them once or twice and found them ok? But that was eating them like a banana. If they're more intended for cooking, that may require another attempt..
Yeah they’re only ever really used cooked. (I gather that they aren’t nearly as nice to eat raw and might make your stomach a bit upset if eaten raw but possibly are not actively bad for you like eating a raw potato is.) Cooked they’re pretty nice. Kinda like if a banana thought it was a potato.
Then you would LOVE the grocery store were I live. You can choose between green, green and green bananas, I haven’t seen them sell a even slightly yellow one for years, even the greenest one here is to yellow.
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