We arrived at Chiquita today at Guayacan farm in Sarapiqui, near Puerto Viejo, Limon. As the bus was going Professor Platt pointed out how close the bananas with dangerous cancer causing pesticides were not even a meter or two from a neigboring community. I looked down at the people who did not seem to have much money at all, and I wondered who they were. Because of the pesticides I was automatically skeptical of Chiquita so I asked the representatives lots of questions. How much they pay the banana workers (40-50% more than minimum wage or around $400/month) but in the packet given to us later on it said they get 13 dollars per day. So I asked if the workers get any special work benefits (some depending on which area they work on the plantation, will get tested for abnormalities every 3 months) and I asked who lives so close to the banana plants (the banana workers and families) and I had to ask what physical damage do the pesticides affect humans (cancer and infertility)
The representatives were part of the Chiquita Nature and Community project. They first showed us a video which at first I thought was "green washing", well I still do a little. Especially after showing us their tree refuge, a special place they "save the trees", well this place was not big at all, about 150 acres. However according to the guide they are helping La Celba (which we toured this morning) to connect their primary and secondary forests to another forest really far away. I automatically remembered how Monte Verde is trying to raise around 300k dollars for conservation and I wonder how much Chiquita actually gives to the forest. Considering thier community projects are not as big as they make it sound. I could tell by the gift shop, they have community people make souvernirs for tourists to buy, but I know they can do more than that. Seeing the shitty areas the men and women have to live in I know Chiquita could pay them more. The representatives would not tell us how much Chiquita profits, but Im sure these profits can give more than shacks to the workers. One out of the 6 small community groups this project helps is the Grupo Nogua , eleven women who put on a "Chiquita banana show". I loved how they began the play with the song "la maza" , very depresssing, as if they were trying to hint at us how hard their lives were, but nobody seems to see that. It is just a cute show to make Chiquita look like good people. Dont get me wrong they did a good job of showing the crowd the history of Chiquita and how bananas reach our stores, but Chiquita could provide them with a decent stage and better a better stereo. I just couldnt help but imagine what their real lives are like and how hard it is to stay in a place that will never pay them enough probably.
The representatives were part of the Chiquita Nature and Community project. They first showed us a video which at first I thought was "green washing", well I still do a little. Especially after showing us their tree refuge, a special place they "save the trees", well this place was not big at all, about 150 acres. However according to the guide they are helping La Celba (which we toured this morning) to connect their primary and secondary forests to another forest really far away. I automatically remembered how Monte Verde is trying to raise around 300k dollars for conservation and I wonder how much Chiquita actually gives to the forest. Considering thier community projects are not as big as they make it sound. I could tell by the gift shop, they have community people make souvernirs for tourists to buy, but I know they can do more than that. Seeing the shitty areas the men and women have to live in I know Chiquita could pay them more. The representatives would not tell us how much Chiquita profits, but Im sure these profits can give more than shacks to the workers. One out of the 6 small community groups this project helps is the Grupo Nogua , eleven women who put on a "Chiquita banana show". I loved how they began the play with the song "la maza" , very depresssing, as if they were trying to hint at us how hard their lives were, but nobody seems to see that. It is just a cute show to make Chiquita look like good people. Dont get me wrong they did a good job of showing the crowd the history of Chiquita and how bananas reach our stores, but Chiquita could provide them with a decent stage and better a better stereo. I just couldnt help but imagine what their real lives are like and how hard it is to stay in a place that will never pay them enough probably.
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