This study of banana contract farming in the Eastern Caribbean explores the forces that shape contract-farming enterprises everywhere_capital, the state, and the environment. Employing the increasingly popular framework of political ecology, which highlights the dynamic linkages between political-economic forces and human-environment relationships, Lawrence Grossman provides a new perspective on the history and contemporary trajectory of the Windward Islands banana industry. He reveals in rich detail the myriad impacts of banana production on the peasant laborers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Grossman challenges the conventional wisdom on three interrelated issues central to contract farming and political ecology. First, he analyzes the process of deskilling and the associated significance of control by capital and the state over peasant labor. Second, he investigates the impacts of contract farming for export on domestic food production and food import dependency. And third, he examines the often misunderstood problem of pesticide misuse. Grossman's findings lead to a reconsideration of broader debates concerning the relevance of research on industrial restructuring and globalization for the analysis of agrarian change. Most important, his work emphasizes that we must pay greater attention to the fundamental significance of the "environmental rootedness" of agriculture in studies of political ecology and contract farming.

The Caribbean banana trade is a controversial issue within international affairs. Peter Clegg investigates the complex political relationships between the traditional actors in the trade and how the issues of colonialism and globalization have shaped their interactions. He presents a detailed analysis of the development of the Caribbean banana trade and analyzes why the influence and importance of the traditional actors within the trade has diminished over the last thirty years.

The Banana demystifies the banana trade and its path toward globalization. It reviews interregional relationships in the industry and the changing institutional framework governing global trade and assesses the roles of such major players as the European Union and the World Trade Organization. It also analyzes the forces driving today's economy, such as the competitiveness imperative, diversification processes, and niche market strategies. Its final chapter suggests how the outcome of the recent banana war will affect bananas and trade in other commodities sectors as well.

"During the 1990s, the Eastern Caribbean was caught in a bitter trade dispute between the US and EU over the European banana market. When the World Trade Organization rejected preferential access for Caribbean growers in 1998 the effect on the region's rural communities was devastating. This volume examines the "banana wars" from the vantage point of St. Lucia's Mabouya Valley, whose recent, turbulent history reveals the impact of global forces. The author investigates how the contemporary structure of the island's banana industry originated in colonial policies to create a politically "stable" peasantry. followed by politicians' efforts to mobilize rural voters. These political strategies left farmers dependent on institutional and market protection, leaving them vulnerable to any alteration in trade policy. This history gave way to a new harsh reality, in which neoliberal policies privilege price and quantity over human rights and the environment. However. against these challenges, the author shows how the rural poor have responded in creative ways, including new social movements and Fair Trade farming, in order to negotiate a stronger position for themselves in a shifting global economy."--BOOK JACKET.

Warm your cockles and lift your spirits ... Including the recipes from series 1 of Ainsley's ITV show, plus many more dishes to make you happy! Because there's no two ways about it - food can definitely raise your spirits. In this uplifting cookbook you will find comforting classics, great food for sharing, recipes for a bit of indulgence, light and healthy dishes to help you feel good from the inside out, easy one-pots that are all weeknight winners, some favourite barbecue dishes to bring sunshine to your table, and delicious desserts because - because we all need a treat now and again. Happy Cooking!

DIVThe history of banana cultivation and its huge impact on Latin American, history, politics, and culture./div

Bananas are grown in all tropical regions and play a key role in the economics of many developing countries. The volume of bananas exported worldwide in the period 1985-2002 grew at an unprecedented average annual rate of 5.3 percent, twice that of the previous 24 years. This expansion was accompanied by minor technological changes but major developments in the world trade situation. This publication reviews the impacts of these events on the world banana economy. It is the first of a series of FAO Commodity Studies that focus primarily on themes relating to individual commodities or commodity groups.