Last week, in the middle of the afternoon, I had the urge for a snack. As I was walking down the streets of New York, passing by food store after food store, I finally decided that a banana in the chill of January, was just perfect.

As I peeled the skin back I realized just how little I actually knew about what is one of my favorite fruits. All the attention these days seem to be on those berries that are rich in antioxidants, but what of the bright yellow seemingly always available (and affordable) banana?

I made a note. This week we discover the banana! And also found out that it's possible that over the next few years we may have to search a bit harder to find one of our favorite fruits.

First off, it's important to note that this fruit - sweet, soft and season-less – is available year-round – and bananas are a good source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber.

Bananas have been in cultivation since recorded history began. Some horticulturists believe that bananas could have been the Earth’s first fruit; here in the U.S. It was at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition that the banana was officially introduced to our shores.

Unlike the depiction in cartoons, bananas don’t grow on trees. They grow on plants that are related to the lily and orchid family. Bananas need temperatures around 80°F, an annual rainfall of about 79 to 98 inches, moist soil and good drainage. That means most bananas are grown between 30 degrees North and 30 degrees South latitude. As the largest plants on earth without a woody stem, banana plants are fragile and require intense care – including the clearing away of jungle growth, and propping to counter bend from the weight of heavy fruit.

Heat and humidity speed up the ripening process, so bananas must be maintained at 58 degrees Fahrenheit during shipment. Once they arrive in North America, they are ripened in a controlled environment. Many bananas are ripened artificially with ethylene gas – a substance that triggers maturation.

One of the few fruits that ripen off the plant, bananas sweeten considerably as the starch inside the fruit converts to sugar. The color of the peel is the ultimate determining factor for a banana's readiness for market. On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being hard green, and 7 being flecking and brown, most bananas ship to retailers at color stage 3.5 (more green than yellow). Interestingly, bananas can be stored in the refrigerator until desired ripeness is achieved. Even though the skin will turn brown, the fruit inside will be delicious and not overripe.

There are hundreds of varieties of banana plants, though not all produce bananas. The main store varieties include Cavendish bananas – the commercial variety available in most local supermarkets, Dwarf or Finger bananas – smaller versions of the Cavendish, Apple bananas – a short, plump variety with an apple taste, and Red bananas – sweet, chunky, creamy bananas with a red skin that turns purple when ripe.

On average, Americans consume over 28 pounds of bananas each year, with over 96% of households purchasing bananas at least once each month. That’s why it’s hard to believe – especially in light of these numbers – that the future of the banana is actually extremely uncertain. Since each banana is a genetic duplicate of the next, the fruit is extremely susceptible to blight.

The Cavendish, the most well-known variety, is currently battling a blight called Panama Disease, for which there is no cure. The disease has already ravaged the crop in many Asian nations, including virtually all the crop in Malaysia. It has even spread as far as Australia. Although the disease has not yet reached Latin America, which supplies all of the bananas we eat in the U.S., it could appear here within the next 20 years.

But before we panic, this isn’t the first time that bananas have faced such a threat and survived. For the first half of the 20th century, consumers enjoyed a banana known as the Gros Michel. By the 1960s, however, the entire crop had been devastated by the same Panama Disease that is now threatening the Cavendish. The more disease-resistant Cavendish moved in to replace the now extinct Gros Michel. So we may have our bananas after all, but who knows just what variety and what they might be called?