Episode 83: Avocado Sustainability with Honor Eldridge (Author of “The Avocado Debate”)

Outline

• What are the key aspects of avocado sustainability?

• How many avocados are produced each year and where?

• Who are some key organizations and people working on avocado sustainability?

• What should listeners keep in mind when buying and eating avocados?

• Interesting Tidbits from Each Chapter of the Book The Avocado Debate

• Expert Guest: Honor Eldridge, Food Systems Expert and Author of The Avocado Debate

What are the key aspects of avocado sustainability?

• While avocados have grown significantly in popularity with now 11 billion pounds of avocados consumed globally each year, there have been increasing concerns around the sustainability of avocado farming. Intensive avocado production in general has been attributed to loss of biodiversity and soil degradation due to the impacts from land and water use.

• Let’s start with the sustainability impacts of land use. Forest lands with diverse ecosystems have been destroyed to produce avocados, often contributing to deforestation. Many times, older trees are removed to provide ample sunlight for avocado trees. This loss of forest cover is creating an increasingly hot environment and impacting the other native species that call the areas home. 

• The Michoacan region of Mexico, where the majority of avocados are produced, is suffering from deforestation and around 40% of recent deforestation in the region has been attributed to avocado production. In this region it is estimated that the land used for avocado production is equivalent to the size of 196,000 football fields!

• Often large scale avocado farming is a monoculture, meaning these are the only crops planted on the land. Over time this degrades the soil, making it less fertile and usable.

• In addition, this area of Mexico is home to endangered monarch butterflies. As the avocado plantations have slowly expanded and started to reach into their habitat areas, including the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, this species is becoming further threatened. 

• Further, water use is an important consideration within the sustainability of avocado production. It is estimated that 9.5 billion liters of water are used each day to produce avocados. This is the equivalent of 3,800 olympic sized swimming pools needed each day just for avocado production! One hectare of avocado trees consume 1.6 times more water than a traditional forest. This is because the roots of avocado trees grow horizontal across the soil rather than down into the ground making it difficult for water to be absorbed. Some studies estimate that each avocado requires 30 liters of water during production, while other estimate that 140-270 liters of water are needed. Either way, this means that large amounts of water need to be extracted, often from regions of the world that are already experiencing water stress. 

• In fact, seismic movements have been recorded in the Uruapan municipality and the surrounding areas in Mexico, one of the important avocado producing regions. This seismic activity has been attributed to water extraction from the aquifers. As the water is extracted, caverns under the ground have been opened up and could be the cause of these movements.

• Lastly, as most avocados are imported from Mexico, there are concerns around the carbon footprint impacts associated with transportation. Some research estimates that for each pound of avocados, nearly 2 pounds of CO2 are produced, mainly due to the carbon impacts of transportation.

• Looking at the social side of avocado production, the agriculture of these fruits is often complicated by an elevated presence of drug cartels in the central region of Mexico where the majority of avocados are grown globally. These gangs often demand money from farmers in the region, have threatened food safety inspectors when they visit the area, and have increased the levels of violence in the region. Because of this, many farmers have to invest a portion of their profits into specialty fencing and security to protect their crops and themselves from these gangs.

• But as our expert guest explains in her book, the history of drug cartels in Mexico with avocados is more nuanced and complex than the headlines suggest.

How many avocados are produced each year and where?

• Due to the rise in popularity of avocados in Europe and North America, the demand for avocados has exploded in recent years. It is estimated that per capita consumption of avocados in the United States has grown by 440% in the last 20 years. As we mentioned earlier, around 11 billion pounds of avocados are eaten globally.

• In the US, it was estimated in 2022 that around 2.8 billion pounds of avocados were eaten.

• So you may be thinking, where exactly do avocados come from? Avocados are grown in warm and humid climates. While avocados can be and are grown all across the world, the majority of avocados that are eaten are from Mexico, specifically the Michoacán region, which produces 80% of Mexico’s avocados. It’s estimated that Mexico exports $2.8 billion worth of avocados each year. In 2017 it was estimated that Mexico produced over 2 million metric tonnes of avocados. This number has likely increased in recent years. For this reason, avocados are often called “green gold” in Mexico as the production of this crop has contributed significantly to the country's economic growth.

• After Mexico the top countries for avocado production include Colombia, Peru, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic.

• If you live in the US, Mexico produces around 75% of all the avocados eaten here; however, there is some local production. In the United States, avocados are mainly produced in California, Florida, and Hawaii, with California accounting for the majority of our domestic production (88%).

Who are some key organizations and people working on avocado sustainability?

• There are a few organizations within the avocado industry that are working towards improving the sustainability of avocado production. Here are a couple:

• The Avocado Sustainability Center, a small community of family farmers who are dedicated to growing avocados more sustainably. This group was created by the Hass Avocado Board to drive research and improvement on sustainability within the industry. 

• The California Avocado Commission helps to promote more sustainable farming practices within the state of California. This group has worked to put in place good agricultural practices like no till farming to help promote healthier soils and other regenerative agriculture practices to save water.

• Fair Trade International has started certifying avocados in an effort to address the labor and environmental challenges of agriculture. When certified to the Fair Trade standards, the risks within avocado supply chains around employment conditions and farmers rights are mitigated. Further, the standard includes measures that prohibit the cutting down of protected forests and encourage farmers to conserve water.

• But as Honor discusses in her book, certifications like Fair Trade International do not consider the labor conditions across the entire supply chain, just the labor conditions on the farm. Also, the environmental standards as part of the Fairtrade label are not particularly stringent or high. They essentially focus on pesticide usage and land-use change.

What should listeners keep in mind when buying and eating avocados?

• Although we talked a lot about the impacts of avocados on the environment, it’s important we put that into perspective as well. While the land and water use considerations along with the carbon impacts are important, these impacts are often significantly less than the production of some of our other foods. For example, the production of beef can use 10 times more water than an equivalent weight in avocados. It’s all relative!

• As a consumer here are a few things you can be aware of before you make your guacamole.

• First, you can work to buy local or seasonal avocados. As we mentioned, the majority of avocados are from Mexico, so if you’re not in Mexico, these fruits are getting shipped to your local grocery store. If you’re interested in potentially reducing CO2 emissions and you’re close to California, Florida or Hawaii where avocados are produced domestically, you can try to opt for those local options.

• In addition, avocados have a season like most other fruits. Typically this season starts in March and ends in late July in California. If possible, stick to buying avocados during these months. That increases the likelihood that you are getting something more local, rather than imported. 

• Second, you can support certified farms and look for certifications like Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certified produce. These certifications can help to indicate that more sustainable farming practices have been used. While these certifications are not perfect, they are a good starting place to making a potentially more sustainable choice. Many Fair Trade avocados come from small scale farms across Mexico and the certification helps to ensure that farm workers are being paid adequately for their work in the production, as they are committed to improving employment conditions and protection of workers rights. 

• And lastly, as always, be mindful of your portion sizes to minimize food waste and feel free to choose more local alternatives to avocados to support local agriculture. 

• There’s a trend now of pea toast as an alternative to avocado toast in the UK. Peas offer a more local and budget friendly alternative to avocados but have a similar texture and lots of nutrients!

Interesting Tidbits from Each Chapter of the Book The Avocado Debate

• Honor nicely walks through the key issues chapter by chapter in The Avocado Debate. To give you a sense of the book, we thought we’d mention each topic and one or two tidbits from her coverage of that topic in the book that we found particularly interesting.

The History of the Avocado

• The stone at the center of the avocado gives a clue to its past. As with many plants, avocado trees need their seeds to be dispersed naturally to spread its genetic material and move into new areas. A bird or small mammal eating the stone would die. However, the avocado evolved to attract the megafauna weighing over 100 lbs that roamed the earth during the pleistocene from 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago. These mammals would consume the green fruit, wander miles, and then defecate the seed out.

• The earliest avocado into California was in 1856.

The Creation of the Hass Avocado

• The Hass was developed out of a need for an avocado that was more resilient so it could thrive in California’s climate and could be better commercialized. 

• It arrived in 1925. It’s named after a guy, Rudolph Hass. 

The Nutritional Value of Avocados

• The avocado fruit is high in calories but also has high levels of vitamins and minerals including folic acid, Omega 3, magnesium, potassium, lutein, and fiber. Also, the fat is mostly the healthier monounsaturated fat. 

Social Media, Marketing, and Influence

• There’s a myth that avocado toast started in Brisbane, Australia in the 1990s. In fact, avocado toast has been commonly served in San Francisco since at least 1885 when a recipe was published in a local newspaper.

The Creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Reaction to it and Impact of it

• The U.S. enacted a ban on the import of Mexican avocados in 1914. This ban stayed in place for a long time. Even after NAFTA took effect in 1994, the import of Mexican avocados was slowed down since it was only allowed from certain places or during certain times of the year. It wasn’t until 2004 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final rule that allowed Mexican avocados to be shipped to all 50 states for all 12 months of the year.

Mexico’s Avocado Monopoly and Other Producers

• There is an increasing amount of land in the Global South being cultivated to meet demand for guacamole in the Global North.

• Still, climate change is allowing for greater cultivation of avocados further north than ever before.

Global Avocado Trade and Shipping

• Trade ships are getting bigger and bigger.

• A typical major trading ship today now has the capacity to carry 740 million bananas–enough for one European each.

• There are 14 major maritime, coastal, and inland choke points that global trade relies upon and that if disturbed would have a major impact on our food system.

Land-Use Change and Biodiversity Loss from Avocado Cultivation

• With Central and South America becoming increasingly arid with longer dry, hot seasons and reduced annual rainfall, large amounts of water need to be irrigated to maintain avocado plantations. 

• Avocados come from trees, but the avocado tree has much less capacity to absorb carbon emissions compared to native tree species.  

Embedded Water

• When you buy an avocado, you are essentially buying the water used to produce each avocado. This water has been taken out of a water-stressed environment and will not be returned.

• 77% of Mexico’s water is used for agricultural purposes and a lot of this water goes to growing avocados

• For more on water and agriculture, see episode 71.

Agroecology and Food Sovereignty

• There’s been a rise in monocultures and large farms. In Mexico, larger, more successful export oriented farmers represent only 3% of private farms but own 30% of private lands.

• Still, today over half of Mexico's territory is owned by small-scale producers.

• Some small scale farmers in Mexico have returned to a mixed cropping approach where they grow the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) with some fruit trees scattered about and some livestock. This model of sustainable farming within the natural limits and with a strong community has become known as agroecology.

• For more on agroecology, see episode 23.

Narcotics and Criminality

• While many in Michoacan hate the violence that comes with cartels and drug production, they have been working within the cartels system for generations. Some even see it as a positive with the gangs having deep ties to the community. Further, there are stories of the government using ruthless tactics as well in the name of rooting out gangs.

Alternative Guacamole and Shifting Consumption Patterns

• Interestingly, the avocado was once seen as a sustainable substitute. Consider in the 1970s when it became challenging to source fatty tuna and fatty tuna belly for sushi rolls. A chef decided to try the buttery avocado flesh as a sustainable alternative. It became a massive success and led to the creation of the infamous California roll. 

Certifying Avocados and the Role of Technology

• There are more than 460 sustainability logos on food and beverage packages and a third of them have been created in the last 15 years. 

• Unlike other certifications for food, the organic standard is enshrined in law. What’s required by law can differ nation-to-nation.

• For example, the U.S. will certify hydroponics as organic while the EU does not. 

Genetics and Novel Breeding of Avocados

• Marker-assisted selection and genetic modification may allow for new breeds of avocados with desirable traits like less browning that help increase sustainability. However, genetically modified organisms have their challenges, typically around monocultures, high-pesticide use, and enabling corporate control.

Expert Guest: Honor Eldridge, Food Systems Expert and Author of The Avocado Debate

• She’s a food systems expert that has been working in this space for over a decade, both in the USA and in the UK. She specializes in farming policy and helps to design a support system that allows sustainable production to flourish.

• Honor got her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University (with Scott!). She has masters degrees from Sciences Po and the London School of Economics.

• Honor’s book The Avocado Debate was published in November 2023.