National Banana Day takes place on the third Wednesday in April. This year that day falls on April 20, 2022. Did you know that bananas are one of the oldest cultivated fruits in the world? Bananas are popular globally. In Southeast Florida, bananas will produce year-round. Bananas are a rewarding and easy fruit to grow in the area. You may have a banana tree in your yard.

Bananas are valuable and versatile. The edible berry fruits grow in fingerlike clusters, hanging down from a banana tree. Coupled with the countless health benefits they possess; their sweetness makes them special. Bananas are reliable sources of vitamins, carbohydrates, amino acids, and fats.

Bananas can be eaten as a meal when peeled and can also be included in other forms of food, such as banana bread, pies, chips, cakes, muffins, or smoothies. More than one hundred billion bananas are produced and circulated across the world.

We do know that bananas were first brought westward from India and other Asian countries by Arab traders around 327 B.C. The fruit spread through Africa and was eventually carried to the Americas by explorers and missionaries.

As bananas grew in popularity, which began in 1834, the demand increased. It has been documented that in 1865 bananas gained popularity on the American shores. The rest, as they say, is history!