Bananas: Not just a funnily shaped fruit

Bananas are more than just a phallic fruit. They are nutritious and delicious, providing a whopping helping of potassium. But in addition to all that goodness, they are the source of many families' incomes.

In the back of your head, I'm sure you always knew that someone had to be growing dem bananas. What you may not have known in the back of your head (it's only so big, after all): Extreme flooding in Ecuador has decimated the banana crops.

Why should you care? Well, one of the areas impacted by the floods in Ecuador is farmed by families who are part of a banana growing co-op. Farm cooperatives cut out the middle man so the farmers get more of the proceeds of the sale of their fruit.

And, since this co-op is Fair Trade Certified, their farmers adhere to strict standards of pesticide and waste reduction, erosion control, the protection of waterways and forests, crop diversification, and reforestation.

However. Because of these floods, the co-op is struggling. They need to buy a $20,000 backhoe to repair the fields and prevent future floods. Oké USA, the fair trade banana distributor, is spearheading a campaign to raise the farmers the funds for a backhoe so the farmers can stay in business. All contributions are tax deductible, courtesy of Oké co-owner Red Tomato, a tax-exempt non-profit, and will go directly to fund the purchase of the Bobcat.

You can donate to the Bobcat fund knowing your monies are ensuring the availability of fair trade, environmentally responsible, yellow fruit. Now that's something I can rally behind.

To learn more, visit the Oké Banana blog or the Buy the Bobcat fundraising page.

Smiling banana courtesy of LibraryMan.
Flood photo courtesy of the Banana Blog.