Day 31
We're All Going Bananas – Literally
Yes, it’s official. We ARE all going bananas, but it’s not a statement about our collective precarious state of mind. No, it’s a statement about the fruit. We’ve all been buying a lot of bananas in the past month.
At first, I thought it was just me, obsessing about bananas. Eating them. Making sure I have enough of them. Running out of them. Obsessing about procuring them. I was so obsessed I started worrying I might have a potassium deficiency! That led to a double obsession.
But apparently I was a trendsetter. Because, according to Google Trends, Americans are going bananas over bananas. More specifically, we’re all going bananas over banana bread.
The reasons why? First, with all the frenzied (over)shopping we’re doing, too many bananas were turning brown on kitchen counters and in risk of going to waste. Baking them was the obvious solution to avoiding waste. (Even klutz bakers like me know over-ripe bananas make great banana bread.)
So, in these days of sheltering at home, both mad-about-baking chefs and wannabe bakers are whipping up a lotta loaves. Yum!
Yes, in good times, we may crave cookies and cake, but in bad times, banana bread is best.
And now a bit of banana trivia: Bananas, botanically-speaking, are berries. Betcha didn’t know that!
So goes Day 31. I think I need a nap — and yes, a banana!
Karen, you’re on to something! Bananas, like toilet paper, are marketed one way — in bunches of large fruit — for consumption at home, and another way — as single, smaller fruit — for sale by cafeterias and restaurants. Now that people can’t eat at restaurants or cafeterias, look for the smaller bananas to make their way soon into groceries. I heard about this here: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/why-toilet-paper-shortage-makes-more-sense-you-think-on-the-media?tab=summary
Thank you for sharing this. Interesting listening.