Confidence in a Confidence Man: A Banana-Disease “Solution” in Late Colonial Jamaica

Banana growers in 1930s Jamaica believed there was no cure for the fungus known as Panama disease that was laying waste to banana crops across the island. With their livelihoods threatened, some growers on the island latched onto the possibility of a miracle cure for the disease, even as scientists claimed no cure existed. This article tells the story of the “cure” known as Banana Sol, its creator, and his trail of deception across agricultural industries. The story of Banana Sol highlights how ecological crises create vulnerability, a vulnerability that some take advantage of for personal gain.