Avocado Alert: The Green Gold Grows on the Backlist
Once the darling of every brunch‑spot and beard‑sprouting foodie, avocados are now facing the same fate as that trippy grape‑juice cart on the pier—being pulled from the menu. The reason? A mix of environmental headaches and a growing awareness that the buttery fruit might be a little too demanding on our planet.
Why Some Cafés Are Saying “Nope”
- Water‑Wasting Wonder – Avocados drink a lot of water. A single tree can pull up to 1,500 gallons per day. That’s more than most houses use in a month.
- Deforestation Diary – To plant avocado orchards, whole blocks of rainforest are cleared. Mother Nature is currently losing 70,000 acres of forest every day.
- Carbon Cost – Big‑scale farming tends to be a greenhouse gas‑holic, and supermarkets could be pitting their produce against the climate.
Wild Strawberry Cafe, a hipster haven in London, posted on IG that “the obsession with avocados has hit farmers hard.” They’ve decided that, while tasty, the fruit no longer fits their “green” vibe.
Reactions: Love, Lament, and Laughs
- “Take it further!” – Some people want restaurants to eliminate everything that hurts the planet: meat, matcha, almonds, you name it.
- “Marketing MVP?” – Others think the move is a slick advertising ploy.
- Dan Crossley’s Take – “We should focus on the real issues rather than banning a single product,” says the Food Ethics Council chief.
That’s basically the debate: do we ban avocado or keep farming smart?
Who’s Still Chewing Avocado?
- Fans include Meghan Markle and Miley Cyrus, the latter even sporting an avocado tattoo.
- In Kenya (world’s #2 avocado country), many coffee farmers are actually growing “green gold” on 7,500 hectares.
- Across the globe, avocado consumption has doubled in the last decade, reaching 7.1 pounds per person in 2016.
Beyond Avocado: The Big Picture
- “Cattle ranches, palm oil, single‑crop monocultures such as avocado—× 1009 (?? Actually 70,000 acres) are driving forest loss at a brutal pace,” says Chris Redston of Rainforest Trust UK.
- He’d love to see more restaurants think about the full life‑cycle of what’s on their plates, not just the check‑out.
Bottom line: Avocado’s popularity is still massive, but folks are starting to realize that the trend can’t continue forever without heart‑breaking side effects. Whether restaurants pull the plug or opt for greener alternative plans, the conversation is growing stronger, and it’s not just about a funky‑green fruit— it’s about the food we’re feeding our future.
