storically I see three of the commodities (sugar, bananas, and COFFEE) that get me through my day (every day). I probably no definitely have way more sugar than I should. The mass market for sugar that developed in the nineteenth century has yet to erode from American culture (Tucker, 8), unlike the teeth of those with an affliction for this sweet indulgence. I love bananas and how inexpensive and plentiful they are; and what morning, or afternoon for that matter, would be complete with out a cup (or two) of coffee? However, the joy of all this products mask historical legacies too appealing for the average, kind American consumer. All these cash crops caused great environmental degradation to the land, and in part political instability. On the island of Negros, in the Philippines, is just one example of large scale deforestation to mono-crop sugar cane (Tucker, 30). The large scale deforestation, and incursion of foreigners on the land met with resistance from the local tribal people. Unfortunately, the government of Negros was all about the money to be gained from the foreign capitalist, so they slaughtered the tribal people. This type
of activity was the norm in tropical areas where foreign money desired land to produce their cash crop (Tucker, 31). Those eager to produce more bananas on Central American land, cleared more, and more land; and they would do anything to accelerate the process. Fruit companies would rework forest, swamps, and marshland, turning the land into cash in the form of a tasty yellow fruit (Tucker, 56). Sadly, Paul Standley knew of the environmental cost of bananas, that was never figured into the economics of the plantations. Standley could see the important migratory bird habitat being wipe out without any regard (Tucker, 57). In southern Brazil American demand for coffee called for more land so the crop could be grown. In Brazil it was all about maximizing short- term profit, by clearing the land and robbing its nutrients (Tucker, 84). This greedy enterprise led the Brazilian government to buy the crop from its coffee producers, in order to keep production levels until the market stabilized. However, this move caused Brazil to have to borrow money on more than one occasion, in order to keep production and price equalization intact (Tucker, 93-94).