Avocados are most popular in areas where they aren’t grown, like North America and the UK, meaning they are imported.
Firstly, there’s the environmental impacts that come from the energy, water, fertilizer, and pesticides required to grow avocados.
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.
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.
Avocados suck up a lot of water, worsening Mexico and California’s droughts and heatwaves, which makes it harder to grow avocados.
Since being declared a superfood and becoming a breakfast obsession, global production has doubled over the past two decades to meet the increasing demands.
Mexico produces more avocados than any country in the world, reportedly providing more than one third of the global total. But at what cost?
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.
It's a US$2.4 billion-a-year export industry, according to AP News.
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.