Avocados - a superfood for us, but not the environment.

Avocados are notoriously difficult to plant, only thriving in optimal conditions with vast amounts of water and high humidity. One avocado requires an average of 70 litres of water to grow, nearly 14 times the amount to grow a tomato.

In Chile, which supplies 70% of its avocado harvest to Europe, there is a region called Petorca, a province in south Chile where land abounds and there is strong humidity - two ideal conditions for avocado planting. Large businesses and investors have exploited the cheap land to build massive avocado plantations to be exported to the world. Avocados have generated increasing revenue in recent years with the rise of its ‘superfood’ profile. The ‘clean-eating’ and ‘superfood’ movement, aided by social media and the rise of consumerism has attached avocados with a symbol of wellness, concomitant with the facade of physical wellbeing - one that is highly sought after in today’s “Instagram generation.”

The ‘avocado boom’ in the urban world has thus resulted in dreary conditions in other parts of the world with avocado production. The combination of the poor water legislation of Chile and cheap land has made the Petorca region vulnerable to profit-driven businesses and investors. Water in Chile is privatized, meaning that individuals and businesses can invest in water to sell them at higher prices or simply hoard them - making it a scarce commodity for the less privileged. In addition to the natural high heat climate of Petorca, this is distressing for those living in the region. Moreover, a steeply increasing avocado demand of 30% every year compels investors and marketers to invest in more avocado plantations in Petorca. The repercussions to residents are catastrophic - clean-drinking water for cooking and cleaning is scarce, while backyards of homes once flourishing with cattle and abounding crops are now parched, with wastewater as the only source of nourishment.

Unfortunately, this scenario remains prevalent in other avocado producing regions, where the high amounts of water are drastic for the environment. It not only robs citizens of their basic rights, but it also disrupts the water cycle. The riverbed once thriving with life in Petorca is now parched, breaking the water cycle. All these in effect would disrupt the ecosystem, in turn damaging the arable land and opportunities for agriculture and sustainable farming. In the grander scheme, larger challenges pertaining to food security and sustainability would arise.

For your perusal:

How demand for avocado is causing Chile’s water to run out

Avocado - a positive superfood trend? | DW Documentary

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