Is this a legitimate reason to not use avocados to make guacamole?
Is this a legitimate reason to not use avocados to make guacamole?
by PerryUlyssesCox
14 Comments
La_croix_addict
Guac without avocados is salsa.
hamhead
I mean, it isn’t wrong. But beyond that? Up to you.
SuspiciousMudcrab
If you buy farmed avocados from Mexico the cartel controls most farms, and they are very water intensive as they mention. But so are almonds and almost every other fruit.
SeventyFix
Cartels have been pushing to take over legitimate businesses in Mexico by force. Avocados is one example, but it’s worse in others like limes. The people and the government are pushing back as best as they can. I don’t consider this a reason to stop consuming produce from Mexico.
A better solution would be for all North Americans to stop buying drugs, which directly funds these cartels. Our money is fueling this misery south of the border.
Martissimus
Yes, there is nothing illegitimate about this reason.
AmIBeingInstained
Is this on serious eats?
MoeSzyslakMonobrow
You can use any reason you want to not make it.
Hedgehog_Insomniac
What is the source?
Cuttlefish88
If you’re concerned about water use, the problem is beef, not avocados. Alfalfa feed for cattle uses more of the Colorado River than every resident in every city of the basin.
Most foods come with a risk of unethical labour practices. The LA Times did a harrowing series years ago about migrant farm labourers in California. In Canada, migrant agricultural workers are so exploited it is practically slavery. Then there’s the issue of child labour and actual slavery in cacao production. More exploitative migrant labour issues with San Marzano tomatoes in Italy. Slavery in the shrimp/prawn industry in Asia.
All of them are legitimate reasons not to consume a product. It’s a matter of choosing what is important to you.
It’s cheaper and easier to use a substitute like edamame or peas for guacamole in a restaurant setting — though I think it’s not guacamole at that point. Avocados are expensive, ripe for 12 seconds, and time consuming to serve while ripe before they aren’t good anymore. I’m betting that’s the actual reason for this note.
golden-rabbit
If you are worried about ethics in food you need to consider palm oil, bananas, and beef.
TheRagnaBlade
This is a correct statement. There have been talking points for years in philosophy circles about food ethics, and how if you eat a chicken then that chicken dies but if you buy an avocado you fund a cartel that slaughters humans…
The end issue, however, is that there is almost no way to consume what you need to live without playing into *some* bad externality. Most chocolate is harvested with child slave labor, avocados and cartels, factory farming is bad for animals and if you’ve ever been to a meat plant the workers are barely treated better than the critters, most fish is unsustainable, a lot of fruit is imported when out of season and contributes significantly to climate change… You could live an ascetic’s life, but for most people you have to choose your battles. I’m really exacting with the chocolate I buy, not because I’m a good person but because the idea of children harvesting cacao at gunpoint or at economic knifepoint was something I couldn’t unsee and unthink.
Avocados are no worse than vodka and olive oil, markets famously linked to organized crime. But they aren’t clean. Almost nothing is 🤷
Edit: spelling
jish_werbles
It takes 15 times more water to make a kh of beef compared to a kg of avocados
Chalky_Pockets
Living life on this planet is full of unintended consequences. You should try to be aware of them, but whatever you replace avocados with will also have unintended consequences.
14 Comments
Guac without avocados is salsa.
I mean, it isn’t wrong. But beyond that? Up to you.
If you buy farmed avocados from Mexico the cartel controls most farms, and they are very water intensive as they mention. But so are almonds and almost every other fruit.
Cartels have been pushing to take over legitimate businesses in Mexico by force. Avocados is one example, but it’s worse in others like limes. The people and the government are pushing back as best as they can. I don’t consider this a reason to stop consuming produce from Mexico.
A better solution would be for all North Americans to stop buying drugs, which directly funds these cartels. Our money is fueling this misery south of the border.
Yes, there is nothing illegitimate about this reason.
Is this on serious eats?
You can use any reason you want to not make it.
What is the source?
If you’re concerned about water use, the problem is beef, not avocados. Alfalfa feed for cattle uses more of the Colorado River than every resident in every city of the basin.
[There is a lot of evidence of cartel participation in the avocado industry.](https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/americas/avocado-cartel-us-mexico-intl-latam/index.html)
[Same with limes.](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/19/1081948884/mexican-drug-cartels-are-getting-into-the-avocado-and-lime-business)
Most foods come with a risk of unethical labour practices. The LA Times did a harrowing series years ago about migrant farm labourers in California. In Canada, migrant agricultural workers are so exploited it is practically slavery. Then there’s the issue of child labour and actual slavery in cacao production. More exploitative migrant labour issues with San Marzano tomatoes in Italy. Slavery in the shrimp/prawn industry in Asia.
All of them are legitimate reasons not to consume a product. It’s a matter of choosing what is important to you.
It’s cheaper and easier to use a substitute like edamame or peas for guacamole in a restaurant setting — though I think it’s not guacamole at that point. Avocados are expensive, ripe for 12 seconds, and time consuming to serve while ripe before they aren’t good anymore. I’m betting that’s the actual reason for this note.
If you are worried about ethics in food you need to consider palm oil, bananas, and beef.
This is a correct statement. There have been talking points for years in philosophy circles about food ethics, and how if you eat a chicken then that chicken dies but if you buy an avocado you fund a cartel that slaughters humans…
The end issue, however, is that there is almost no way to consume what you need to live without playing into *some* bad externality. Most chocolate is harvested with child slave labor, avocados and cartels, factory farming is bad for animals and if you’ve ever been to a meat plant the workers are barely treated better than the critters, most fish is unsustainable, a lot of fruit is imported when out of season and contributes significantly to climate change… You could live an ascetic’s life, but for most people you have to choose your battles. I’m really exacting with the chocolate I buy, not because I’m a good person but because the idea of children harvesting cacao at gunpoint or at economic knifepoint was something I couldn’t unsee and unthink.
Avocados are no worse than vodka and olive oil, markets famously linked to organized crime. But they aren’t clean. Almost nothing is 🤷
Edit: spelling
It takes 15 times more water to make a kh of beef compared to a kg of avocados
Living life on this planet is full of unintended consequences. You should try to be aware of them, but whatever you replace avocados with will also have unintended consequences.