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The Documentary: The Avocado Wall

Avocados on a Tree

26/09/2017 GMT

The Avocado Wall

BBC World Service - The Documentary, The Avocado Wall

The amazing success story of the avocado in the US as a case study for the future trade

The amazing success story of the avocado in the US as a case study for the future of US-Mexico trade.

This is the food that unites a nation – but it could be facing the political fight of its life. From guacamole and chips at fast food chains – to wellness bloggers and movie stars– avocados are eaten by all demographics in the US – and the little fruit are big big business – with about four billion consumed a year, a 100% increase from 1999.

But, the US consumer’s appetite depends on imports – in fact around 85% of them are imported. The biggest producer is directly south of the border – Mexico.

Nine in 10 imported avocados come from Mexico, and with uncertainty over potential trade tariffs, Nafta (North America Free Trade Agreement) renegotiation still a possibility, and no weakening of President Trump’s rhetoric over the Southern Border- the ubiquitous cheap and plentiful avocado could be about to face a less certain future.

BBC reporter Katy Watson uses the amazing success story of the avocado in the US as the case study for the future of US-Mexico trade, and takes this product and looks at it from farm to fork (or nacho) both in the US and Mexico. She speaks to the head of Nafta at the embassy of Mexico in Washington DC, who explains the importance of the free trade agreement, and heads south to Mexico City to hear from chefs and anthropologists about how avocados have been used for millennia in Mexico.
 
Katy travels further into Mexico to the state of Michoacan- to meet the growers who supply the exports for the US markets. Their livelihoods depend on Nafta, and there has been a boom in business. But this has also come at a cost, as the fruit has become such a lucrative crop, it has become the focus of cartel attention, sometimes at a bloody cost.

(Photo: Avocados taken at an orchard in the municipality of Uruapan, Michoacan State, Mexico. Credit: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP)

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