Post by account_disabled on Mar 14, 2024 7:14:21 GMT
And other dark truths about the pesticide-fuelled pineapple industry in Costa Rica, where the UK and U.S. gets most of its stock. Becky Burgum By Becky Burgum HF Illustrated By Hunter French 14 November 2023, 8:45am Share Tweet Snap “Think of every non-organic pineapple you eat as taking years off your life.” This was not something I expected to hear in my first few days of my soul-nourishing Costa Rican holiday. I’d actually been planning to spend it largely sipping, um, piña coladas, but meeting the agricultural community of Juanilama really put a spanner in the works. I’m here with Intrepid Travel, a tour company focusing on sustainable, community-based tourism. Not only do they invest in local communities, you get to actually meet them – and and not in a superficial, performative way. Deep in the tropical northern Costa Rican countryside, I stayed in the home of one of the 200 women that make up the village.
As she showed us round her own small-scale, sustainable farmland, she told us about the devastating effects of the large-scale production of pineapples in Costa Rica, where big companies spray toxic pesticides to mass-produce fruits, which in turn hospitalise workers, poison locals, and destroy the environment. Black howler monkeys are turning yellow from eating polluted leaves. There’s illegal deforestation. Chemicals are left in pineapples that you and I eat (but more on this later). “Pineapples in Costa Rica,” she tells me bluntly, “are killing people.” Most pineapples you’ve eaten are probably from Costa Rica. According to the BYB Directory United Nations (UNDP), Costa Rica dominates the global pineapple market, providing two out of every three pineapples sold in the world. It’s the crutch of Costa Rica’s economy, with official stats stating an export value of $1.7 billion in . “There’s probably no other market where a single exporter dominates to the extent Costa Rica does,” says Alistair Smith, founder of non-profit Banana Link, which pushes for sustainable banana and pineapple trades.
Ninety-six percent of the UK’s pineapples come from Costa Rica – 88 percent including the EU, too, according to the latest 2022 figures from FRuiTROP, the research expert in fruit and veg markets. News In Photos: Argentine villagers blame pesticide spraying for serious health problems JEAN-JÉRÔME DESTOUCHES 06.27.16 Costa Rica has been the leading exporter of pineapples since 2001, and in a real gold rush effect, it only took 15 years to get there. But such accelerated expansion came at a cost. The country is known as one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and is the ultimate ecotourism destination, with nearly 100 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources. Despite this apparent dedication to sustainability, Costa Rica is still one of the biggest users of harsh chemical pesticides per hectare in the entire world.
As she showed us round her own small-scale, sustainable farmland, she told us about the devastating effects of the large-scale production of pineapples in Costa Rica, where big companies spray toxic pesticides to mass-produce fruits, which in turn hospitalise workers, poison locals, and destroy the environment. Black howler monkeys are turning yellow from eating polluted leaves. There’s illegal deforestation. Chemicals are left in pineapples that you and I eat (but more on this later). “Pineapples in Costa Rica,” she tells me bluntly, “are killing people.” Most pineapples you’ve eaten are probably from Costa Rica. According to the BYB Directory United Nations (UNDP), Costa Rica dominates the global pineapple market, providing two out of every three pineapples sold in the world. It’s the crutch of Costa Rica’s economy, with official stats stating an export value of $1.7 billion in . “There’s probably no other market where a single exporter dominates to the extent Costa Rica does,” says Alistair Smith, founder of non-profit Banana Link, which pushes for sustainable banana and pineapple trades.
Ninety-six percent of the UK’s pineapples come from Costa Rica – 88 percent including the EU, too, according to the latest 2022 figures from FRuiTROP, the research expert in fruit and veg markets. News In Photos: Argentine villagers blame pesticide spraying for serious health problems JEAN-JÉRÔME DESTOUCHES 06.27.16 Costa Rica has been the leading exporter of pineapples since 2001, and in a real gold rush effect, it only took 15 years to get there. But such accelerated expansion came at a cost. The country is known as one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and is the ultimate ecotourism destination, with nearly 100 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources. Despite this apparent dedication to sustainability, Costa Rica is still one of the biggest users of harsh chemical pesticides per hectare in the entire world.