Globalization of a Chiquita Banana
by Luke Osborn
Jazz Bananas by Rare Shot Blue
Physical land features and the movement of goods and ideas across the world impact where people live and why.
In six words:
Geography and Globalization effect entire lifestyles.
Chiquita Bananas are grown in South American and Latin American farms
One of the biggest banana farms is in Guatemala, near Chisec
As you can see, Both Chisec and the banana farm are located on a river. The river allows for Chisec to ship good and provides the farm with water for their crops.
The farm is located in a fairly highly populated area of Guatemala, which allows it to have more workers than if it was in a low density area. The area is highly populated because of the convenience the nearby river provides.
The bananas then either go to a facility in Ecuador or Costa Rica, where they are packaged and processed.
This is the Ecuador facility. It is located in the highly populated city of Guayaquil.
Goods from Guayaquil can easily be shipped out to sea, which makes it a prime location for bananas and other goods to be shipped out. Increased trade creates more jobs and brings more people to the city.
The bananas are shipped out to highly populated cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, which are also near bodies of water.
The bananas are stored in warehouses (above) and distributed to stores where consumers can buy them!
Problems Caused by the Globalization of Bananas
-Workers work long hours in the fields while being exposed to dangerous chemicals.
-In order for supermarkets to make profit off bananas workers work at increasingly low wages.
-Rain forests are being deforested to make more room for bananas to be grown.
-International law says that a country cannot easily refuse GMO food that they deem unfit for consumption and the public does not have to be notified.
How to give workers higher wages:
Making new breakthroughs farming technology could make banana farming cheaper, and if banana prices are not lowered to compensate this, the extra profit can be used to heighten the worker's wages
Pros and Cons of Globalization
Pros:
-More jobs.
-Cheaper goods.
-Gives poor countries a chance to develop economically.
-Access to foreign products.
-Share of information between countries.
-Cultural mixing.
Cons:
-Jobs are lost to countries with cheaper labor.
-Faster spread of diseases.
-Higher chance of terrorism.
-Wage cuts in the US.
-Pollution.
How Globalization Relates to Me
I can buy products from all over the world. Before recently, people could only buy local products. In the case of bananas, they were unheard of in the US until the late 1800's. However, now I can comfortably sit in my living room while eating a banana from Mexico.
In six words:
Without globalization I would have nothing.
Trade Route maps from sourcemap.com