So the million dollar question is: Why do organic bananas come with a little bit of plastic around the stems when regular bananas do not? Inquiring minds want to know. There’s plenty of speculation, but I haven’t heard the definitive answer from an expert. So here’s the contest: Since I don’t actually have a million dollars to spend, I’ll give away your choice of Sierra Club’s Hey Mr. Green ^[1], which I reviewed last week, or the Ridley plastic bag carrier ^[2], also reviewed last week, to the first person who can find the answer to the banana question. It must be an answer from an actual expert. A produce clerk might be okay if they really seem like they know the answer and are not just speculating out of thin air. But I’d really like the answer to come from someone in the banana industry, and I just don’t have the time to find out for myself. I’m sure the rest of FPF readers will thank you for your efforts. Oh, and Terrible Person, I think you are automatically disqualified because you live with me, so while I welcome your research skills, you can’t win the prize.

All right, here’s last week’s tally. It’s all new plastic.

• 2 pieces of plastic from a couple bunches of organic bananas
• 1 strip of tape from a package that was sent to me (But at this point I can’t remember which package it was.)
• 1 plastic wrap from the opening of a Preserve toothbrush container
• 1 bandaid and 1 piece of medical tape from donating blood last Monday. There is soooo much plastic involved in giving blood, but this is the only type I brought home with me. In fact, I plan to write more about plastic tubing and medical bags later this week because some of the plastic issues are quite troublesome.

That’s it for last week. I’m 5 weeks away from the 1-year anniversary of FPF! What should we do to celebrate? Let’s start planning the party now!