 Avocados, the cost of production. During my first year of university, I went to the supermarket to buy an avocado, and it's with great shame that I confess this, I came back home with a mango. Considering the sheer number of avocados that I eat today, and salads, on toasts, as guacamole, you name it, it bewilders me that just a few years ago, I did not know what an avocado looked like from the outside, realizing that my friends and family have also gone from ignoring them to loving them. In just a few years, I decided to embark on a mission to find out as much as possible about the social and environmental impact of making avocados a staple in one's diet. Here's what I found. First of all, where are avocados grown? Mexico is the largest avocado producer on earth, but competition is rising. In 2017, Mexico was responsible for 33% of global production. Within Mexico, the Michoacan region is the most productive. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database, Mexico is followed by the Dominican Republic, Peru, Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil, and Kenya. It makes sense that most of the top producers are South American countries. Avocados have been a staple in South American diets since around 500 BC. Global production has spiked over the past couple of decades, bringing many other countries to scale up or trial production. In 2016, Mexico alone produced the equivalent of the overall world avocado production of 1997. How much avocado is consumed each year? Although Europe still consumes four times less avocado than the US, that is 500,000 tons per year, which is around one kilo per capita per year, the European import value of avocados almost tripled in the period between 2013 and 2017. The main supplier to the European market is Peru, followed by Chile, South Africa, Israel, Mexico, and Kenya. Where avocados are grown in Europe. Spain is the main producer of avocados within Europe, and in an attempt to grow local markets, pilot programs are being run in Portugal, Italy, and Greece, with production in these countries climbing year over year. The impact of avocado production on the environment and communities. This intensification has come with consequences. Several journalistic and institutional reports have investigated the consequences of increased avocado production, in particular in Mexico. Respectively in 2014 and 2016, articles published in the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian claimed that rising avocado prices fueled both illegal deforestation and farmers' exploitation in Michoacán by criminal organizations such as Los Caballeros Templarios, The Knights Templar. Avocados were compared to Africa's blood diamonds in these articles. A report by the FAO also highlighted the weakness of small farmers in Michoacán, who often lack resources to pack and transport their fruit, and who also lack legal documentation, without which payment is not guaranteed. The result is an economy that rewards middlemen with little skin in the game. The people who make significant profits are in fact not the farmers, but those who take care of transport and packaging. The water footprint of producing avocados. Use and accessibility of water in avocado production also has an impact on surrounding habitats and communities. The average avocado water footprint is a rather abstract measure, considering that avocados grown in different parts of the world require incredibly different amounts of applied water to grow. Applied water means irrigation water, so not the rainfall or natural moisture in the soil. Since avocados can adapt to a wide variety of soils, from dry to moist, farmers will apply different amounts of water, depending on the season. Avocados grow all year, although peak season is in the summer, and farmers from warmer or drier climates will apply more water than those from cooler or more humid environments. Dr. Mary Lou Arpaia, a subtropical horticulturalist at the University of California, claims, in the Philippines, where it rains a lot and there's very high humidity, they will have to barely irrigate. But in Chile or California, various of South Africa, Israel, Spain, and other regions with Mediterranean climate, you will end up applying more water. Environmental and social issues arise when an extremely dry climate is matched with ruthless production. Petorca belongs to the region in Chile, from which we typically import avocados, and it is known to be a very, very dry region. Here, it takes about 1,280 liters of applied fresh water to produce one kilogram of avocados. In other words, it takes about 320 liters of applied water to grow one single avocado. Bear in mind that the average is 70 liters. To get around this problem and ensure access to fresh water, the owners of some big avocado plantations in Petorca have installed illegal pipes and wells to divert water from rivers to irrigate their crops. In doing so, they cause the regional drought. Small farmers with shallow wells are left with no water, and residents often have to use contaminated water delivered by truck to cook, clean, or wash themselves. Cases like this one highlight that the avocado water footprint is much more complex than a simple number and has direct consequences on entire communities. So what can you do? Finding out about water footprint, illegal piping, drug cartels, lack of payments, and deforestation helped me realize that picking avocados is not just about finding the perfectly ripe one. It's about fair trade. My first tip is to look for fair trade labels. These guarantee that producers were paid at least the fair trade minimum standard and earned the fair trade premium to invest in their communities and the ecosystems. For example, by starting reforestation and preventing water contamination. My second tip is to find ethical producers. Browsing to find ethical producers, spoiler alert, it's not that easy. I also came across the Global Social Compliance Program launched by the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative, a robust program which benchmarks and recognizes sustainability standards, providing buyers and suppliers useful information to identify supply chains that are socially and environmentally responsible. And my third and last tip is to consume in moderation. We could apply a broader and perhaps simpler principle, moderation is best. Lowering the demand might help to stabilize the supply. And even though this is not a sure outcome, as consumers, we have more power than we sometimes think. Especially because we love this weird and wonderful fruit, we could cherish it by eating it in moderation, thanking nature for each avocado that ends up on our plate and always reminding ourselves that not even the best guacamole is worth the suffering. This article is written by Silvia Lazzaris and read out loud by me, Ines Hortelonzo, originally posted on Food Unfolded. Food Unfolded explores the stories behind the food on our plates, reconnecting us to the origins and sustainability of our food. Food Unfolded is co-founded by the EU and powered by EIT Food.