Why Bananas and Coffee

I would say that in Costa Rica neither banana or coffee production is really sustainable. 

I always thought that bananas were native to central America but this is not the case.  Bananas "the worlds largest herb" came from and is native to Asia.  They first came to Costa Rica in the late 1800's and then the railways of America made it possible to export bananas all over and Costa Rica eventually started growing bananas in mass quantities.

My question is why bananas.  There is a good amount of sun and water here but the only way that bananas survive is by dumping tons of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and many other chemicals on them.  It seems to me that bananas are not the most sustainable export for Costa Rica.  There has to be something to grow and sell without harming the environment and the people around the banana plantations.  

Coffee is not really sustainable either.  How do they grow coffee.  Well the first thing that is needed is clear land whether it be in a valley, a field, or on a mountain.  The only way to get this clear land if it is not already clear is to cut down all of the trees and clear out all the brush and destroy the natural environment for many species of animals and bugs.  

Neither plant is terrible in and of itself because the soil is rich and they don't deplete its nutrients but there are other ways they are hurting the environment and neither is very sustainable in my opinion.