There were plentiful piles of organic and regular bananas at Trader Joe’s this weekend, but there was also a little sign warning of a “worldwide banana shortage.” Their orders were coming up short but, the sign reassured me, they were doing their best to procure the necessary supply of bananas. Of course what I got out of the sign was “research project!” First, we go to Australia where a cyclone has destroyed 95% of the country’s $350 million banana crop. Sydney is soon expected to suffer from “an acute banana shortage.” But this is a situation I assume is contained to Australia and while I certainly want The Wiggles to always have yummy fruit salad (that was a toddler parent joke), I have selfish motives. So let’s find some news on bananas in the Americas. A November tropical storm destroyed 2100 hectares of bananas in Honduras. Weather has also affected the crop in Ecuador with heavy rainfall and cloud coverage. These conditions also make the plants more prone to the black sigatoka fungus. So it may be a season of higher prices for consumers. By the way, if you’ve heard a rumor about bananas becoming extinct in 10 years, Snopes reveals only a little truth in the tale.