Devon McCarrollStaff Writer
Your
favorite foods may be in danger of disappearing in the next few decades. Viruses,
climate change, and changing eating habits could cause some of our most prized
provisions to become extinct.
Chocolate
Can
you imagine a world without chocolate? For die-hard chocolate lovers,
trick-or-treating would not be worth the effort if there wasn’t a cocoa reward
at the end of it. Hot chocolate would cease to be enjoyable, since it would
just be a steaming mug of water. These
horrible images may become reality in the distant future thanks to climate
change. Rising temperatures and differing rainfall patterns are making it
harder to grow cocoa plants, whose beans are used to produce the dessert that
melts in your mouth.
Bananas
We’re
not monkeying around when we say our favorite yellow fruit is in danger of
vanishing from the earth. Thanks to Panama disease, bananas are in danger of
being completely wiped out. This devastating disease has already eradicated a
popular banana known as Gros Michel in Latin America. It’s been threatening
Cavendish plantations in the Amazon and now the Middle East and Africa are in
danger. Cherish your strawberry banana smoothies and banana pudding now because
they may become extinct soon.
Honey
The
world would “bee” in true peril without the support of little fuzzy insects
that collect pollen. Their stingers have given them a horrible reputation, but
we should value them for making a delicious treat like honey. Sadly, honey bee
numbers are declining and already a third of US colonies have died out because
of Colony Collapse Disorder, which is a phenomenon where worker bees
unexpectedly disappear and never return to the hive. Without the expertise of
these little insects, other staple foods like apples, onions, oranges, and
avocados will be in danger of extinction also. Let’s hope this situation
doesn’t escalate to the “,Honey, I drastically shrunk the food supply” point.
