The Dark Side Of The World's Spiralling Demand For “Green Gold”

In Mexico and other countries where avocados are grown, such as Israel and South Africa, the increase in demand is leading to the indiscriminate destruction of land, and even the exploitation of growers by criminal gangs.

- Amelia Richter

Ziracuaretiro, Mexico; the smell of moist earth and fresh resin from pine and oak trees hangs heavy in the air in Michoacan. Nature in this western Mexican state comes in lush green tones -and so does the region’s most lucrative fruit, the avocado.

Michoacan is one of the largest avocado-growing regions in Mexico. And while the fruit’s boom in worldwide popularity has brought money to the growing region, it’s also caused problems for the environment.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the amount of agricultural land dedicated to growing avocado around the world grew from 381,000 hectares in 2006 to 564,000 hectares in 2016.

A large part of that land is in Mexico, where the avocado originates from. Avocado trees are planted in endless uniform rows in the fields around the city of Uruapan.

Nearly two million tons of avocados have been grown on some 200,000 hectares over the past year. And the surface area used to produce them is still growing. Mexican biologist Arturo Chacon Torres, founder of the campaign group Academia Mexicana de Impacto Ambiental, says avocado plantations continue to stretch into forests and mountain ranges.

It’s estimated that between 600 and 1,000 hectares of forest are being destroyed in the region per year to be turned into agricultural fields. Piles of small woodchips remain as traces of the destruction.

In addition, the fruit requires lots of care to grow properly, especially when it comes to water.