Chiquita and its predecessor, United Fruit Company, made bananas one of the most popular fruits in the world. But after a ...

Antonio Álvarez, a local banana plantation owner said the devastation from farmers losing their crop is more severe than it sounds. "They say it has wiped out 10 percent of the island's economy.

Small farms with natural landscape features such as shade trees, hedgerows and tracts of intact forest provide a refuge for some tropical bird populations, according to an 18-year study in Costa Rica.

To see a banana plantation destroyed. Not a strip, but a plantation. A working farm. Torched. By a fire storm. It just tells you what nature has got up its sleeve if it really wants to hammer humans.

Of course, there's a reason why banana plantations rely heavily on pesticides. For one, banana trees are particularly susceptible to infestations, says Chris Wille, the chief of sustainable ...