Are we fully aware of the origins of the everyday products we buy in the supermarket?
The dark side of avocado is something usually hidden in the weaves of big flows of trade. This fruit has become recently a real star on social media, and plays a role at the foundation of the healthy hipster diet; the demand has soared exponentially, reaching the top of the most consumed products in 2010s. (Fresh-Plaza)
How much do we know about the impact that intensive farming has both on soil and local producers?
USA and Mexico represents the main actors in the avocado market; USA demand is constantly growing, and in 2018 only, during the Super Bowl week, more than 200 million pounds worth of avocado has been consumed. (USNews) Mexico is the first avocado producer, representing around the 60% of the worldwide production; the country is able to satisfy the big demand from USA. The Mexican state of Michoacán produces around the 80% of the total Mexico production, around 1,4 million tons of avocado in 2017, with a huge soil exploiting (Eurofresh) This huge demand, increasing year by year, enrich farmers pockets, but has taken criminal activities’ attention: avocado started to be called Oro Verde (‘Green gold’). Over the last years, several drug cartels, such as Caballeros Templarios and CJNG (Jalisco New Generation cartel) grew interested in the market; an increasing number of farmers were threatened and their fields passed under cartels control. Frequently, farmers were murdered, and Green gold became Blood avocados. (NPR)
While setting up the table for the perfect avocado toast Instagram shot, or enjoying guacamole and nachos during a game, do we even consider what our favorite green fruit has been through?
To highlight the complex relationship between USA and Mexico regarding this huge trade flows in a massive market, the first part of our project aims to describe the dark side of the topic, hidden behind the stylish hipster imaginary glowing around the fruit. In the second part, under the surface, focus is on showing how criminal cartels are linked to avocado crops in Mexico, while in the third we will try to give hints on people’s opinion and actions; among the latter, we chose fair trade cooperative as a representation of a different, more sustainable way to produce avocado.