WHY OUR LOVE FOR AVOCADOS IS DESTROYING OUR PLANET ?

Avocado is a stone fruit with a creamy texture that grows in tropical climates. In contrast to other fruits that consist mostly of carbohydrates, avocados have an unusual consistency due to a high content of healthy fats.
Well, all this avocado adulation comes at a cost to the environment and the communities in which the fruit grows. In Mexico, for instance, demand for avocados has led to huge swathes of the country’s forests being illegally destroyed by farmers to clear land and make way for crops. “For many farmers in this region, avocados in particular are seen as an appealing product as they have high profitability, particularly when compared with traditional corn cultivation.
Despite the fact that avocados can be grown across the world, the primary producers of avocados globally remain in Central and South America, in part due to the topographical specificity of growing the fruit. Mexico is the largest producer (2.02 metric tonnes in 2017). In Mexico, avocado production accounts for over 500,000 acres and has been steadily growing as demand for the fruit in the Global North increases. The global industry today is worth $5.6 billion annually.
This increasingly international trade comes with a significant carbon footprint. Carbon Footprint Ltd estimates that two small avocados in a packet has a CO2 footprint of 846.36 grams (almost twice the amount of a kilo of bananas). Due to the production of avocados in Central and South America, the fruit travels long distances in order to reach consumers in the Global North. A Mexican avocado would have to travel 5555 miles to reach the UK. Given the distances, fruit is picked before it’s ripe and shipped in temperature-controlled storage, which is energy intensive.
To satisfy the growing popularity of avocados, imports from Mexico have skyrocketed. This gave financial wealth to a lot of farmers and greatly increased the number of people employed by this industry. Nevertheless, it also drew the attention of organized crime gangs and drug cartels such as the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. So when you’re buying a Mexican avocado, the chances are that you’re giving a share of the revenue to criminals.

Please refer these blogs about avocados, so that you will get a clear idea about the negativities of planting avocados.

https://www.greenmatters.com/p/avocad....

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/arti...

https://youmatter.world/en/benefits-a...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-...

https://emagazine.com/avocados-not-as...

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