There are more than 1,000 different types of bananas in the world. So why do we only have one type of banana in the grocery store? This episode is an exploration into the rich diversity of bananas and plantains — and why North American grocery stores only sell one type. We talk with biologist Rob Dunn, who wrote a book about this topic, Von Diaz, an esteemed food writer and cookbook author, Meenakshi J., a freelance journalist who wrote an article about sacred bananas, Vidya Balachander, the South Asia editor at Whetstone, and Vanessa Mota, a food blogger behind My Dominican Kitchen, for more.
Topics covered in this episode:

Min 0:43 : Meet Von Diaz
Min 1:53 : Differences between bananas and plantains
Min 4:29 : Meet Rob Dunn
Min 8:03 : Story of the Cavendish banana
Min 13:28 : Meet Meenakshi J.
Min 14:16 : Bananas as divine offerings
Min 15:40 : Meet Vanessa Mota
Min 16:55 : Dominican mangú
Min 18:30 : Meet Vidya Balachander
Min 20:04 : Cooking and eating with banana leaves
Min 24:26 : Changing the food system

Climate Cuisine is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about this episode of Climate Cuisine at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio.
Guests: Rob Dunn, Meenakshi J. (@polkajunction), Von Diaz (@cocinacriolla), Vidya Balachander (@vidya83)