{"product_id":"banana-the-fate-of-the-fruit-that-changed-the-world-9780452290082","title":"Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn the vein of Mark Kurlansky's bestselling \u003ci\u003eSalt \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCod\u003c\/i\u003e, a gripping chronicle of the myth, mystery, and uncertain fate of the world's most popular fruit\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this fascinating and surprising exploration of the banana's history, cultural significance, and endangered future, award-winning journalist Dan Koeppel gives readers plenty of food for thought. Fast-paced and highly entertaining, \u003ci\u003eBanana\u003c\/i\u003e takes us from jungle to supermarket, from corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables around the world. We begin in the Garden of Eden--examining scholars' belief that Eve's \"apple\" was actually a banana-- and travel to early-twentieth-century Central America, where aptly named \"banana republics\" rose and fell over the crop, while the companies now known as Chiquita and Dole conquered the marketplace. Koeppel then chronicles the banana's path to the present, ultimately--and most alarmingly--taking us to banana plantations across the globe that are being destroyed by a fast-moving blight, with no cure in sight--and to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDan Koeppel\u003c\/b\u003e, a 2011 James Beard Award winner, is a science and nature writer who has written for \u003ci\u003eNational Geographic, Outside, Scientific American, Wired\u003c\/i\u003e, and other national publications. He has discussed bananas on NPR's \u003ci\u003eFresh Air \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eScience Friday.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Plume Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50642305515794,"sku":"9780452290082","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9b235b8d-5b38-4cc0-b227-f2f22e739fbe.jpg?v=1733062787","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/banana-the-fate-of-the-fruit-that-changed-the-world-9780452290082","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}