140 million bananas are eaten every week in the UK, making them our fave fruit! And every year nearly three quarters of a million tonnes of bananas are shipped to the UK, many from Jamaica, in the Caribbean.

Shanika, 11, from Jamaica, went on a special trip this summer, to see one of her country’s most famous foods being grown.

'The farms consist of thousands of acres on both sides of the road. We did a tour of the farm, then the packaging house,'  Shanika says.

'I learned a lot about bananas and their importance to Jamaica. I learned about how they’re grown, reaped, packaged and exported to the United Kingdom.'

'The bananas are sent green to the UK, and when they get there, they let them get ripe. We also learned that the bananas to be sent off have to be a certain size before they are reaped. They also have to be flawless, and the damaged bananas are separated and sent to the chips factory to make banana chips.'

But bad times have hit the banana farms since Shanika visited. In August Jamaica was hit by a powerful hurricane called Hurricane Dean. 'I learned on the news that the banana farm was destroyed by the storm winds,' she told us.

Let’s hope they’re able to rebuild soon. Watch out for an update.