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Commercialbanana production in the United States is relatively limited in scale and economic impact. While Americans eat 26 pounds (12 kg) of bananas per person per year, the vast majority of the fruit is imported from other countries, chieflyCentral andSouth America, where the US has previously occupied areas containing banana plantations, and controlled the importation of bananas via various fruit companies, such asDole andChiquita.[1]
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The first commercial banana farm in the United States was established in Florida, nearSilver Lake, in 1876. It is known that Ponce de Leon brought bananas to Florida in the early 1500s.[citation needed] A number of independent banana farms and cultivars have been located in a number of areas, reaching as far north as the southernMidwest andOhio River. This region equates roughly with the northernmost terminus of the subtropical crop-growing region of the US, which ends at aboutCincinnati,Ohio, and further east in cities and locations such asPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,New York City andLong Island inNew York, and coastal regions of southernNew England. Banana growth further west along this ecological transition line, such as in central to northern Missouri and northernKansas/far southernNebraska is highly dubious and uncertain, due to extreme temperature fluctuations and an increase in aridity.
Other states that have been popular locations for independent banana farming have beenGeorgia,Louisiana,South Carolina,Mississippi,Arkansas,Texas,Oklahoma,Alabama,North Carolina,Hawaii,Virginia,Arizona,California,Nevada, andMaryland.Florida has seen a number of independent and big-name banana cultivars inhabit its land throughout history.
Bananas have also been cultivated in states of thePacific Northwest, including in areas ofWashington,Oregon, and various highland areas and sheltered oceanic/temperate valleys in southernIdaho.
In the 70s, a variety of bananas, including Ice Cream and Cavendish, were commonly grown throughout the Appalachian region, primarily throughout sheltered mountain valleys in the east ofTennessee and northGeorgia.
Hawaii is by far the largest banana producer in the United States, followed by Florida. Banana plantation in Hawaii has followed a descending trend, from 29 million pounds (13 thousand long tons; 15 thousand short tons)[2] in 2000 to 17.8 million pounds (7.9 thousand long tons; 8.9 thousand short tons) in 2010,[3] and 4.7 million pounds (2.1 thousand long tons; 2.4 thousand short tons) in 2023.[4] Hawaii produces mainly the conventional Cavendish assortment and the Hawaiian apple banana, which are sold in the local markets due to high employment and land expenses. The chief US banana exporter is Florida, which produces mostly Thai and cooking bananas (Bluggoe type). In addition, US banana producers are looking for opportunities in the organic and specialty segments of the banana market in Florida, Texas, California, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, andGeorgia.[5] Banana cultivation inFlorida has been about 500acres, valued at roughly 2 million US dollars.[5]
Other states that remain popular locations for independent banana farming, which usually only export on a highly domestic level, are Georgia,Louisiana,Mississippi,Arkansas,Texas,Oklahoma,Alabama,South Carolina,North Carolina,Virginia,Arizona, andCalifornia. These states produce a variety depending on the region, including Cavendish, Bluggoe, Ice Cream, Goldfinger, Lady Finger, Red Dacca, Latundan, Pisano Awak, and Balbisinia subtypes.
Independent banana cultivation in the United States is diverse, with some areas of the country able to sustain fields of a wide variety of banana trees perennially or near-perennially, similar to a plantation system. This is most notable (outside of Florida and Hawaii) in Texas, Louisiana, California, Arizona, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and coastal North Carolina. In other areas of the country (northernArkansas, southernMissouri, mountainTennessee, southernKansas, the far southernMidwest and along theOhio River,Kentucky, andVirginia,) containing a climate similar to that of the banana growing region of inland south-central and eastern China (Sichuan,Anhui,Zhejiang,Hubei,Jiangsu,Henan,Jiangxi,Hunan,Chongqing, andGuizhou provinces,) banana cultivation is more seasonal.
Bananas are also grown commercially inPuerto Rico,[6]Guam, andAmerican Samoa.[7]
