Avocados: more harm than good?

Is the water consumption worth it?

Daria Shevtsova ~ Pexels

Yes, you might have spent the last 15 minutes perfecting that avo-on-toast picture to let your Instagram followers know  you're #cleaneating. But if I were to tell you that the avocado industry is causing families living nearby to lose their clean water supply, does it still count as clean eating?

A world without avocados everywhere might sound odd now, but when they were first brought to the UK in the 1960's they were not a big hit. Marks and Spencer introduced them as 'Avocado pears' in shops in 1968, but the name caused a lot of confusion. One customer sent in a complaint after stewing the 'pear' and serving it with custard. It wasn't until the 2010's that the fruit (I know, no wonder people got confused) really took off. Now it seems to be in everything- from chocolate mousse to sushi, french fries to soup... you name it, it probably (definitely) exists. There's even a National Avocado Day- July 31st, in case you fancy celebrating.

The hype is understandable. Although calorie-dense due to the high fat content, the fats found in avocado are mainly monounsaturated fats which lower bad cholesterol and help your cells to develop. They also contain almost 20 vitamins and minerals, such as folic acid, vitamin E and vitamin K. Although the creamy texture of an avocado may be off-putting to some considering we normally associate creaminess with dairy, it makes the fruit an amazing alternative for cooking and baking. Check out some great ideas here!

However, one big issue with the production of avocados is their water footprint.  It takes approximately 2,000 litres of water to produce one kilo of avocados. In Petorca, Chile, where many supermarkets source avocados from, this is even higher due to the region being very dry. 1kg of beef takes around 15,500 litres of water to produce and 1kg of pork is around 4,800 litres, so avocados still have a much lower impact environmentally than meat. But compared to other fruit and veg, avocados are thirsty plants. Potatoes only need about 1/8th of the water to produce and tomatoes need around 180 litres (per kg).

Daria Shevtsova ~ Pexels

Due to the spike in popularity, avocado farmers in Petorca are illegally installing systems to divert river water to irrigate their crops, meaning those living locally don't have access to clean water. It takes 100,000 litres of water per day to grow a hectare of avocado trees, which is the same amount of water that 1000 people use in a day. Instead, locals have to rely on contaminated water brought in by trucks. However, this causes sickness, meaning they either have to buy bottled water or boil the contaminated water.

It's not just the water usage that's a problem however. The ongoing increase in demand for the fruit puts pressure on farmers to find more space to grow them. In Mexican states such as Michoacán, farmers are cutting down pine trees to plant avocado trees. A report published by Mexico's National Institute of Forestry, Farming and Fisheries in 2012 suggested that around 1,700 acres of forest land was lost every year between 2000 and 2010 to make space for avocado farming. In more recent years, this has dramatically increased as the demand for the fruit continues to grow. The Mexican authorities are struggling to keep up with the illegal deforestation occurring because avocado farmers leave some of the original pine trees to hide the smaller avocado trees below so they aren't visible from above.

Personally, the problems avocados cause are enough for me to try my hardest not to eat them. Everything we eat will have some sort of impact on the environment, but the more we educate ourselves, the more we can find the foods that work best for ourselves and our planet. Sometimes, they're in the only veggie option on a menu, so if that happens I'll pick it and enjoy it, knowing it's a treat. After all, we have to eat something, and choosing the meat-free option is still a great choice to make!

Next week- is olive oil killing birds?