The documentary explores many ideas about agriculture, the global economy, the environment, the food we eat and strategies to foster reform from within and outside industry. As the project nears completion, these Idea Pages will become the meat of our website, places where our audience--including educators and outreach leaders--can focus on a particular topic. Each page will includes original audio-visual material from the production and links for further individual study. The working list of Idea Pages is shown below. We welcome your feedback and ideas.

The impact of agribusiness is a central topic of the film. This Idea Page is the source of detailed information about the historic effect of past agricultural practices and the place to go for discussions of agribusiness and the rainforest, its relation to global warming, and its effect on people. It's also a place to analyze reform efforts toward sustainable agriculture: wildlife corridors and refuges within monoculture, protections for rivers and estuaries, new techniques of weed and disease control and recycling. Critics who are pushing for further reforms will be heard here as well.

For this film, we are speaking with activists, environmentalists and banana executives about the beginning of Chiquita's work with the Rainforest Alliance. The detailed interviews on this Idea Page provide a rare window into the painstaking process that led to reforms in the industry. Our commentators speak about issues of trust, missteps and green-washing, factors that tipped the balance in negotiations and lessons learned. This in-depth look at their experiences can serve as a valuable case study for business students, current and future environmental managers and corporate social responsibility officers.

This resource section explains the nitty-gritty of the "banana wars" in the WTO. It is a place where our characters' interview bites can be placed back to back, allowing them to debate in more detail. Here too, our audience can find resources to understand issues of international trade both generally and specifically for bananas.

Certification of all kinds is making a profound impact on the lives of banana workers and the quality of the food we eat. But it is also an alphabet soup of NGOs, self-certifying retailers and other groups (SA800, ISO14000, EUREPGAP and TNC, to name a few). In addition, the fair trade and organic movements champion different standards and priorities. Even educated consumers find it confusing. This idea page is a starting point to help consumers make sense of it all and understand the merits and criticisms of certification.

This page will look in-depth at some of our characters and the countries they live in. It will explores their personal history, their families, their working life and their place in the global banana business. It will also introduce short portraits of new characters. This is our most personal Idea Page. The section is designed for our general audience and younger viewers.


© 2007 Green Bananas, LLC.
Photo credits: Purcell Carson and Hope Hall for Green Bananas and © 2006 Jennifer Pritheeva Samuel