"Lidl is the latest to switch to sustainable bananas. Will it make a difference?", 6 Feb 2016

…[T]he UK may be the biggest market in the world for Fairtrade, organic and other certified bananas but it still has one of the lowest retail prices in the northern hemisphere…So…it is not so good for producers hoping to…invest more in plantation conditions, wages and environmental impacts…“Selling loose Fairtrade bananas at a loss…is sending the wrong message…”explains Alistair Smith, founder of…Banana Link. “The smallholder growers…have little or no room to invest in the improvements in wages conditions and environmental practices that are needed to ensure sustainable production…”…The…UK’s main source of organic and Fairtrade bananas: the Dominican Republic…However, the driving force behind the…sector…has been largely slum-dwelling Haitian migrants…most survived on poverty wages...There has been some progress…However…[e]ven with legal status, it is not certain issues such as living conditions will improve for migrants…There are also health and environmental issues that need more attention, such as the risks of using often dangerous chemicals…and the monoculture landscape created by banana plantations…[Also refers to Asda, Co-op, Lidl, Sainsbury, Tesco, and Waitrose.]