U.S. avocado consumption is ripe

There is no crop that has had a trajectory as steep as the avocado. Since 2010, consumption has gone up between 10 and 30 percent every year, which is one reason why avocado prices are increasing. Dan Stone recently wrote a piece called “Thanks to America, We’ve Reached Peak Avocado” for National Geographic.

Facts about avocados:

• Mexico produces 10 times more avocados than the U.S. and Indonesia combined.

• The rise of avocado’s popularity is unsustainable. Avocados have been grown for thousands of years in South America, but as demand increases, the farmers can’t afford to eat their own crop anymore.

• It takes about 100 gallons of water to produce a pound of avocados … that’s about an entire bathtub of water for one avocado.

• Almost three-fourths of Mexico’s crop comes from the state of Michoacan, where avocados are becoming currency in the drug war. The fruit is referred to as “oro verde,” or green gold, and has replaced hard drugs like cocaine and heroin as the currency of the cartel.

To read Dan’s story on avocados and see more food coverage, visit natgeofood.com.