When it comes to the differences between coffee and bananas/pineapples, timing is much more important for the ladder. Pineapples can only last up to 40 days (if they were perfect) before the fermentation process begins after they are picked. As for bananas, it is very similar because they can also go bad very quickly. In comparison, coffee lasts much longer after it is picked so ensuring that the product is exported quickly isn’t as important as it is for bananas and pineapples.

When talking about sustainability, the banana and coffee plantations both make use of all materials. They compost banana peels, replant the tops of pineapples, and reuse compost for fertilizer. They also use tourism as a means of making extra money to ensure that they don’t go out of business to large high-scale competitors that have been taking over recently. The new competitors don’t promote other local businesses and sustainable practices like they do so tourism serves as a way to attempt to fight off these big companies.

Some threats that the plantations face are the struggles of pests and the plants growing on their own. These specifically apply to the pineapple plantation because if a pineapple plant were to grow on its own, it would not be harvestable and the plant would be ruined. Pests are a problem on both but have an effect on 30% of all pineapples grown on their plantation. This causes a huge loss in potential profit but is combated in the end because of the higher prices they can charge for the organic aspect of the fruit.

If I was a plantation worker I would definitely prefer working on a banana plantation. I would instantly rule out a pineapple plantation because of the extreme heat, lack of shade, and sharp edges of the plants. I would also rule out coffee for the extremely cheap pay and my dislike of coffee in general. When working with the bananas, I would get to swing around a really sharp machete which is awesome and, I feel, is the best perk out of all 3 of the plantations.