Strollerderby : banana

Banana Dildo the Latest in Stupid Kid Crap

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:03:00 GMT

I was surfing through the thousands of ultra-modernist nurseries and kid gear over at Ohdeedoh when all of a sudden I was confronted with something you don't normally see on this part of the interwebs.

Is that what I think it is? And is Banana Bunker really the best name for this product? And don't bananas already have cases?

There's a hot-or-not contest over at Ohdeedoh, but I have to wonder: Who would whip this thing out at the playground?

Are bananas the new oil?

Brett Singer — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Everyone who thought bananas were this wonderful and inexpensive food that we stumbled onto here in the States – you were wrong. Very wrong.

At least that's what Dan Koeppel said in the New York Times this week. His OP-ED piece, "Yes, We Will Have No Bananas," is currently the most emailed article at nytimes.com. According to this extremely interesting essay, bananas are more exotic than we realize and shouldn't be so cheap. Fruit stands on the streets of Manhattan typically sell the yummy yellow-skinned fruit at 3 or 4 for a buck, which is a great deal by New York standards.

There are various reasons, Koeppel writes, why bananas have become such a staple in American households, despite the fact that they are not grown locally and were "virtually unknown" in the United States until the late 19th century. He refers to "banana barons" who did everything from creating jingles (to paying off doctors "to convince mothers that bananas were good for children." That's not to say that bananas aren't healthy, just that we didn't discover this miracle food by accident.

It gets political too, of course, with American business interests trumping any concern for human rights: "Over and over, banana companies, aided by the American military, intervened whenever there was a chance that any 'banana republic' might end its cooperation."

There's more, and it's worth reading Koeppel's OP-ED contribution if you have the time. If not, I'll leave you with this: apparently there is a fungus that could cause a banana shortage and a huge jump in banana prices. No more 3 for a buck snacks for you and your kids. I wonder what would take its place.

Now, just for fun, here are some banana-themed YouTube vids:
- The original Chiquita Banana commercial; it feels a bit like an infomercial after reading the Times article.

- A newer Chiquita Banana ad, also touting banana-related health benefits.

- The Swedish Chef Making Banana Split from The Muppet Show. Just because.

image: bananas.co.uk

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Weekly Check-Up: Tommy the Tomato Brings, Er, Fruit To Life?

Kelly Mills — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:31:00 GMT

You know the old PSA trick of animating inanimate objects to make them friendly and appealing for kids? Like, the toothbrush comes to life and tells you how to brush, or perhaps even a forlorn little bill sits on Capitol Hill waiting to be made into law. Sometimes I find these animated things scarier than clowns, and sometimes if there's a catchy song involved, they become part of my fond Saturday morning memories. So I guess it's up to you to decide where Tommy the Tomato will fall in this. My kid likes his website. He's a tomato created by a nutritionist to educate kids about healthy eating, because of course "childhood obesity" is right up there with "ebola" and "nuclear". There's no singing, and his friend Barry the Banana looks...well...full of nutrients.

Let's hope Tommy comes out quickly as a fruit (not vegetable) and that he can teach kids valuable lessons about antioxidants and whole foods and stuff like that. But there's a danger in anthropomorphizing things: While Tommy is advocating healthy eating, isn't he also promoting the consumption of his own kind? Isn't he in fact endorsing cannibalism?