fungicide used on their crops. It usually ends up seeping into ground water, which in turn is consumed by individuals and attacks the central nervous system. We import strawberries and grapes from Chile every day in America that probably contains one or more of these harmful chemicals. We also import a great percentage of our bananas from Costa Rica. The banana industry runs the government there because banana exportation is the major economic income for Costa Rica and they donate much of their efforts to keeping up the banana crops. In Costa Rica, banana production accounts for five percent of the land, twenty percent of their export revenues, and a whopping thirty-five percent of their pesticide business. Workers start applying toxins early in the production of bananas because they are susceptible to insects. They apply about thirty kilograms of active pesticides per acre, per year and they spray fungicide up to forty times per year. This is ten times higher than the normal amount used on produce. The Worldwide Health Organization says that the pesticides used in South America are the most dangerous in the world. Growers use chemicals like fenamifos, etoprop, and paraquat, all of which are banned or are being reviewed. Exposure of workers to these chemicals has caused blindness, sterility and even death. The growers use such high amounts of chemicals because worm infestation is high in fledging bananas. Therefore, workers tie bags of pesticides directly on young banana bunches, but when the wind blows, the bags are swept into streams and rivers. It is the people of Costa Rica who pay a high price for bananas. Many well-known names in the banana business grow their bananas in Costa Rica. Chiquita, Dole, and Del Monte are just a few, for example, that have fields there. They claim that they are concerned for the health of the consumers and workers, but they have actually done very little to change the way pesticides are being handled a...
