Bananas are astonishing. Compare them to apples, from the viewpoint of a North American consumer.<p>1. Bananas are grown thousands of miles away. Apples are typically grown within a few hundred.<p>2. Bananas have to be transported in refrigerated ships, trucks, and trains, and even then only keep for a couple weeks after harvest. Apples are easy to transport and keep for months.<p>Yet bananas are cheaper than apples!<p>How that came to be is covered in this interesting article: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2008&#x2F;06&#x2F;18&#x2F;opinion&#x2F;18koeppel.html?ref=opinion&amp;_r=0" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2008&#x2F;06&#x2F;18&#x2F;opinion&#x2F;18koeppel.html?ref...</a>