If they don’t pay protection money, growers and packers risk being raped or killed, their bodies tied to avocado trees with warning notices attached. Many farmers have been forced to hand over the title deeds to their farms. They also extorted money from the fertiliser and pesticide retailers. The Knights Templar started charging a fee for every box of avocados gathered by farmers. Avocado farmers, who in Michoacan can easily earn more than £115,000 a year, a vast sum in Mexico, live in continual fear of kidnapping and extortion. Some drug criminals are becoming growers themselves, others simply terrorise the industry.
In Michoacan, the cartels now make more money from avocados than cannabis. They include La Familia Michoacana, whose leaders once tossed five rivals’ heads on to the dance floor of a nightclub their equally vicious rivals in the Knights Templar, a quasi-religious death cult and Los Viagras, named for their leader’s heavily moussed, erect hair. Unfortunately, Michoacan is also home to some of Mexico’s most violent cartels. Mexico now makes more money exporting avocados than oil. The rich soil means the notoriously thirsty avocado trees need only a third as much water as they do elsewhere. The region’s fertile volcanic soil and temperate climate allow avocados to be harvested all year round (in other countries they can only be harvested in summer). Some 40 per cent come from Mexico and almost all of that is grown in the rural western state of Michoacan. The problems that come from the West’s trendy fascination with avocados have a lot to do with geography. Where trendy restaurants and chefs go, the image-conscious supermarkets may not be far behind. In Ireland, the Michelin-starred chef JP McMahon has called them the ‘blood diamonds of Mexico’ and compared avocados to battery chickens. Its chef, Joseph Ryan, suggested the world may be entering a ‘post-avocado era’. The Wildflower Restaurant in South London followed suit, citing the violence in Mexico. Tincan Coffee in Bristol has replaced ‘avo’ with pea guacamole after they were judged not to ‘fit’ with it’s ‘core beliefs’. Its owner cited the ‘demand on avocado farmers, pushing up prices to the point where there are even reports of Mexican drug cartels controlling lucrative exports’. The Wild Strawberry Cafe in Bucks substituted avocados, its most popular item, with garlic-sauteed mushrooms on toast. Pop star Miley Cyrus went further with an avocado tattoo on her arm.īut, the fruit, which is described as Green Gold has been caught up in violent gang warfare with rival groups trying to exploit the healthy snack The duchess revealed in her Grenfell cookbook that a green chilli and avocado dip was a favourite. The lifeblood of the millennial generation - who can’t stop posting pictures of avocado on toast on Instagram - this so-called ‘super food’ has been championed by everyone from nutritionists to Hollywood stars.
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In her defence, the duchess is hardly the only celebrity who’s extolled the wonders of avocados, which are full of vitamins, proteins and healthy fats. It has proved so lucrative in Mexico that it has been dubbed ‘green gold’ and is even filling the coffers of brutal drug cartels. The campaigning duchess may be passionate when it comes to racial equality and female empowerment, but for someone who wants to save the planet, she’s committed something of a faux pas with avocados.įor all their health benefits and tastiness, the fact is that rampant avocado production in the Third World has been linked with water shortages, human rights abuses, illegal deforestation, ecosystem destruction and general environmental devastation. ‘The consummate hostess,’ he enthused.Well, perhaps not so much. The celebrity make-up artist said it took him back to the days when he and Meghan Markle collaborated on her lifestyle blog, The Tig. ‘Still being the avocado toast whisperer, YUM!’, trilled her guest, Daniel Martin. Pride of place went to avocado on toast -on silver platters, no less.
The Duchess of Sussex has rightly been praised for making the fusty old Royal Family more socially and ethically aware.īut that was until an old friend from her Hollywood days was invited round for a bite to eat and posted online a picture of what was widely assumed to be high tea. Meghan Markle, pictured earlier this month, is a big fan of avocado toast, but the popularity of the dish is causing problems in Mexico
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