Part III banana: product of Costa Rica

     There has always been an increase in demand for bananas, but no increase in pay for the people who put in the hard work to make the bananas. For some they were young and needed all the money they could get "these guys grow up with machetes in their hands. At 27, Alfonso is 14 years-that's half of his young life-into his career. At 13, he asked the government for a special permit to work. His dad worked on a banana farm but had a 'problem' and couldn't work, so Alfonso dropped out of school to help support his family with machete"(Timmerman 135). Even though they have been needing the money and doing this for most of their lives they still do not get paid the amount they deserve to get paid.
      Americans alone has a high demand for bananas," the average American eats 27 pounds of bananas each year..."(Timmerman 132). Considering this it would make sense to pay the people more who put in the hard labor to make the bananas, right? When thinking about all the other roles of course they're going to get paid, but the ones that actually grow the product get the short end of the stick. "The supermarket gets 41 percent, the importer gets 19 percent, the exporter gets 28 percent, the farm owners get 10.5 percent, and the banana worker gets 1.5 percent"(Timmerman 151). The same men that are doing their dangerous job, the same men that are coming into work in hopes that their children don't end up having to labor like them, are the same men that could earn more and provide a better future for their families. People like the the transporters and retailers are making the money now (Timmerman 151). It is possible for the producers to get more money if the transporters and retailers wages were split equally between all three of them. The producers should earn the same as the rest of the people that put work into making and selling the bananas because they do just as much work as everyone else.