Thursday, August 28, 2008 Posted By Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese print this article

Operation Banana Hunt

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Okay boys and girls. We’re all going on a mission. I’m calling it Operation Banana Hunt. You’ve probably noticed that I’ve become enamored with The Dole Organic Program. Get a load of these recent posts:

Now, in case you have no idea what The Dole Organic Program is, be sure to visit their homepage. Here’s some of their introduction:


As defined by the Organic Trade Association, organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on using minimal off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. Basically, organic agriculture puts the focus on improving soil fertility through the use of mineral and natural fertilizers and enhancing biological cycles for natural insect and disease control.

At the forefront of this organic trend is Dole’s Certified Organic Banana Program. In addition to using conventional agricultural production methods, Dole has been exploring alternative growing methods to provide consumers with a choice on how their bananas are grown.

“We see the organic industry as a growing market with good opportunities to learn methods for growing produce in a more earth-friendly manner,” said Frans Wielemaker, Director of the Organic Program for Dole in Latin America.

Alright, back to Operation Banana Hunt. I need your help. Let’s all pull together and see if we can find bananas from every country, and, every farm! It’ll be tough, but we’re already off to a good start. Take a look:




Peru
001: Huangala Palletizing Unit
002: Saman Palletizing Unit
003: Salitral Palletizing Unit
  • Mom: My Mother's Banana!
  • Sue C.: "I got a farm number today with my bananas that I hadn't gotten before: 003."
223: Bonanza Farm
992: APOQ
993: BOS
994: APPBOSA
996: Pacific Organic
997: Agrotumbes SAC
998: Banana Latina SAC



Honduras
060: Esmeralda Farm
  • Karen: “How cool! I just checked out the bunch of bananas I got from my organic produce co-op. Mine came from Honduras—a farm that was devastated in Hurricane Mitch, but has been brought back into production. I sent the link to the Dole Organic Program to my co-op members so they can check out their bananas...farms, that is...:-)”
"We got bananas at our organic co-op yesterday and I was all excited to locate a new farm from the number on the sticker. These came from the same farm my last ones did - Farm 060 in Honduras. Oh well - they are wonderfully delicious! Hope everyone is still checking their stickers and reporting in!"

Ecuador
100: Finca Nueva Esperanza
  • Kirsten: "Looks like our bananas are coming from Ecuador. In the last week, we've had bananas from Ecuadorian farms number 100, 537 and 542. How great to get to see where our little yellow cuties grew up!"
350: Grupo Agrícola Prieto, S.A.
404: Las Mercedes Farm
  • Sue C.: "Okay Gerry, I found a new one, 404. It's in Ecuador and the farm name is Hacienda Las Mercedes. Wouldn't it be great to do a tour of all the organic banana farms?"
537: Hacienda Celia María / Agrícola Carmita
  • Kirsten: "Looks like our bananas are coming from Ecuador. In the last week, we've had bananas from Ecuadorian farms number 100, 537 and 542. How great to get to see where our little yellow cuties grew up!"
542: Lamiformi C. Ltda.
  • Kirsten: "Looks like our bananas are coming from Ecuador. In the last week, we've had bananas from Ecuadorian farms number 100, 537 and 542. How great to get to see where our little yellow cuties grew up!"
  • Ilana: "I got Dole bananas, number 542 from Ecuador. If I do say so myself, they're mighty long! I doubt I'll be able to finish one in one sitting. Sorry for replicating your mom. Don't get your bananas in an uproar!"
625: Agrícola La Isla
633: Alba Helena Farm
684: Cesar Encalada
  • Sue C.: Gerry another new one for me; Ecuador farm 684. You've got me on the hunt!
  • Gerry Pugliese: Time for the Banana
686: Las Tenias
694: Hacienda Pérez Quiñonez.
  • Sue C.: New farm from Ecuador 694. I never got that one before.
  • Gerry Pugliese: My Blue Sky Banana
695: Las Mercedes Farm
698: La Gloria Farm
759: Mar Plantis
827: Andrea Farm



Columbia
773: Grupo Daabon Finca Don Diego
775: Finca Hamburgo
776: Finca Don Pedro
  • Gerry Pugliese: My Banana, In Hand
  • Karen: "Woo Hoo! More bananas in my organic co-op share this week. And this time they are from a different country - Farm 776 - the Don Pedro Farm in Columbia. Thanks, Don Pedro - your bananas will be delish in my morning smoothies!"
780: Grupo Daabon Finca Shangrilá
781: El Pozo Farm




Dominican Republic
253: Savid Dominicana

As you can see, 3 down and 27 to go! I’m not sure how long it’ll take or if we’ll be able to pull it off, but, it should be fun trying. And what’s the downside? Eating too many bananas, what’s the worst that could happen? Eep!


Okay, here’s how it’s going to work. You know I’ll be on the look out for new and exciting farm numbers and blogging about it, but if you find one. Make a comment to this post—just like Karen did—or send an email (with "I've gone bananas" in the subject) to diseaseproof@gmail.com.


And don’t worry. You’ll be able to find this post under Topics (on the left), just look for Operation Banana Hunt. Now, I’ll keep updating this post with your comments and emails, but, if you take a picture of your banana or bananas, I’ll gladly make a post out of it—wink, wink, hint, hint.

Let’s have fun with this. Tell your friends and family. Operation Banana Hunt is on!

Written By:Kirsten On January 3, 2008 7:04 PM

Looks like our bananas are coming from Ecuador. In the last week, we've had bananas from Ecuadoran farms number 100, 537 and 542. How great to get to see where our little yellow cuties grew up!

Written By:Gerry Pugliese On January 3, 2008 9:51 PM

Hey Kirsten-

Thanks a bunch--no pun intended--I just added your comment to the post.

Keep hunting!

Peace.
-Gerry

Written By:Karen On January 24, 2008 10:23 AM

We got bananas at our organic co-op yesterday and I was all excited to locate a new farm from the number on the sticker. These came from the same farm my last ones did - Farm 060 in Honduras. Oh well - they are wonderfully delicious! Hope everyone is still checking their stickers and reporting in!

Karen

Written By:Gerry Pugliese On January 24, 2008 11:03 AM

Hey Karen-

I feel your pain. I've got more farm number 001s then I know what to do with. But keep hunting!

Peace.
-Gerry

Written By:Karen On February 21, 2008 11:18 PM

Woo Hoo! More bananas in my organic co-op share this week. And this time they are from a different country - Farm 776 - the Don Pedro Farm in Columbia. Thanks, Don Pedro - your bananas will be delish in my morning smoothies!

Written By:Gerald Pugliese On February 22, 2008 9:12 AM

Hey Karen-

Sweet! Adding it to the post now.

Peace.
-Gerry

Written By:SueC On March 19, 2008 8:42 PM

Hey Gerry

New farm from Ecuador 694. I never got that one before.

Written By:Gerry Pugliese On March 19, 2008 10:12 PM

Hey SueC-

Thanks! Keep up the great work!

Peace.
-Gerry

Written By:SueC On March 23, 2008 10:53 PM

Ok Gerry another new one for me: Ecuador farm 684. You've got me on the hunt!!!!!

Written By:Gerry Pugliese On March 24, 2008 9:15 AM

Hey SueC-

You are getting the Operation Banana Hunt purple heart!

Thanks!

Peace.
-Gerry

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