Unexpected consequences of eating avocados

You’ve heard that avocados are supposedly the reason that millennials are killing the housing industry, and everyone has been hit over the head numerous times with the various health benefits of the good fats in the buttery fruit. Not many are aware, however, that the true cost of an avocado is much higher than the US$1.50 you pay for extra guacamole.

From destroying ecosystems and expediting climate change, to fueling drug cartels and gang violence, the avocado has become quite the controversial berry (that's right, berry). Check out the gallery to see the surprising and disturbing effects of the breakfast staple you love.

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One big problem fueling environmental impact -

Avocados are most popular in areas where they aren’t grown, like North America and the UK, meaning they are imported. The farther a food is eaten from where it grows, the greater the impact.

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Many moving parts of the industry - Firstly, there’s the environmental impacts that come from the energy, water, fertilizer, and pesticides required to grow avocados.

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Then there’s the export - The resources used for packaging, as well as the energy used in processing, transporting, and keeping the avocados cool are other impacts, says Tom Cumberlege, Associate Director of Carbon Trust.

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Avocados are especially thirsty - Not only do they require more water than other produce (twice as much as oranges), but they ironically are often grown in regions that face water scarcity.

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A vicious cycle - Avocados suck up a lot of water, worsening Mexico and California’s droughts and heatwaves, which makes it harder to grow avocados, which means more deforestation in other areas to farm the fruit, and so forth.

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Global demand has skyrocketed -

Since being declared a superfood and becoming a breakfast obsession, global production has doubled over the past two decades to meet the increasing demands.

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Causing deforestation - Because of the demand, farmers in Mexico are increasing the size of their farms, which leads to environmental issues including deforestation and increased greenhouse gas emissions.

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Destroying ecosystems and hurting locals - Many major UK supermarkets source their avocados from Chile’s avocado-producing province, Petorca, where residents' water rights have been violated.

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Illegal activity - The plantations reportedly installed illegal pipes diverting water from rivers to irrigate their crops. As a result, villagers say they're experiencing a regional drought.

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Driving an economy - Contrary to what some believe, the commodity that is feeding American obsession and driving Mexico’s economy, particularly in the Michoacán state, is not drugs but avocados, or what residents call “green gold.”

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A high price - Mexico produces more avocados than any country in the world, reportedly providing more than one third of the global total. But at what cost?

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An attractive market for crime -

In Mexico’s Michoacán state, violent cartels and gangs are fighting to take control of the lucrative avocado market.

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And it is green gold indeed - The avocado business reportedly earned one cartel an estimated US$152 million, largely by extorting local farmers with "taxes," and threatening death if they did not oblige.

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It’s more profitable than drugs -

It's a US$2.4 billion-a-year export industry, according to AP News.

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It’s extremely violent - One gang, called La Familia Michoacana, made itself known in the avocado game by reportedly throwing five rivals’ heads onto a dance floor in the town of Uruapan.

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Attacking farmers - Another gang, called the Knights Templar, taxed, extorted, and kidnapped farmers, outright stealing their land.

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The Viagras cartel - Deriving its name from the founder's unusually erect hairdo, this cartel forces "protection payments" from farmers, flies drones over the plantations. and reportedly tries to set up drug laboratories in the orchards.

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Jalisco New Generation cartel - This cartel is trying to stake their claim, and in August 2019, they reportedly hung nine bodies from an overpass in Uruapan, and hung a banner saying, “Be a Patriot, Kill a Viagra.”

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Farmers are generally treated poorly - According to several news sources, avocado farmers in Mexico reported being extremely unhappy with the wages they receive, on top of the danger of gang violence.

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They often lack workers’ rights - The workdays are long and strenuous, income is hardly sufficient, child labor is not uncommon, and the job itself is insecure. But they can’t shut it down.

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Killing the avocado industry is not the answer - Despite the crime and violence, Adriana Villicaña, a professor in Uruapan, told AP News that the industry has lifted many people out of poverty, and it’s a good source of work for women.

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Killing the avocado industry is not the answer - Villicaña, who also sits on the citizen’s safety advisory board, says the region’s crime problem would be worse if the industry collapses, as people will be forced to hire themselves out to criminals.

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Crime in New Zealand - The spike in demand for green gold had thieves targeting avocado orchards, with close to 40 large-scale thefts reported within five months in 2016, according to The Guardian.

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China is getting involved - A decade ago, avocados were essentially unknown in China, importing only two tons in 2010. In 2017, it brought in 32,100 tons, according to the New York Times.

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The demand for avocado could find new supply - Some Chinese businessmen, with support from the state, are reportedly developing avocado plantations in the southern province of Guangxi.

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Avocado as the fruit of global trade? - If China can produce an avocado that rivals the Latin American variety, and for less, the global market could see a huge shift, though consequences would come with it.

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Is there a solution? - Though it may help to calm down with the avo-craze, in the greater scheme of things, they’re still better than foods derived from animals, from an environmental perspective.

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Most plant-based foods are better for the environment - Avocados have a lower carbon footprint than eggs, and are half the footprint of bacon, says Cumberlege. Of course, they can be produced in more environmentally friendly ways to reduce emissions further.

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Don’t let them go to waste -

If it’s too much for you to stop eating avocados completely, just make sure you don’t let all of these consequences become a browned, inedible mess.

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Unexpected consequences of eating avocados -