From Super Bowl guacamole to avocado toast, America’s love affair with a Mexican superfood runs deeper than brunch culture and health trends. Behind the millennial obsession lies a story of cartel myths, ecological devastation and a political climate that sanitises everything it consumes. MSc candidate Christina Tanner traces how a fruit became a mirror for US anxiety about immigration, borders and the hidden human cost of our appetite.
Our millennial obsession with avocados is renowned; apparently, we are willing to sacrifice entering the property market for the glorious green treat. The simple avocado toast has become a favourite breakfast of the middle-class ‘ethical consumer’ but the long list of health benefits masks serious socio-economic problems arising from our appetite for it.
Increasing awareness of violence and cartels surrounding this exotic fruit, I argue that our cultural takeover of the avocado – alongside ignorance of huge ecological repercussions – is symptomatic of worrying shifts in public opinion creeping through the US. Seemingly harmless misinformation about avocado production could reflect America’s shift towards President Donald Trump’s nationalist economic and immigration policy and changing attitudes to migrants.
The fruit that crossed the line – avocados, Mexico and American political anxiety
Before facing allegations of reflecting Trumpian and Republican policies, the crocodile pear was popularised through a love of guacamole, a rare example of ‘authentic cuisine’ in an exotic dip form, reflecting a growing appreciation of the Mexican border region and Latin American population. This traditional dip was quickly Americanised, and promoted as a Super Bowl staple. This remarkably-successful campaign took guacamole out of Mexican restaurants into homes, with over 105 million pounds of avocados being eaten on Super Bowl Sunday alone.
This was not an accidentally-successful marketing shot; it is the result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allowing the imports of Mexican avocados in 1994, which were previously banned for fear of the damaging pests they could bring into the US with them. This meant avocados were now available all year round, consistently imported from Mexico. In addition, the California Avocado Commission gave the fruit the ‘superfood status’ we cling to as part of our response to many modern health woes, and the nation’s obsession was born. The transfer of food across cultures has never been clearer. As our obsession with healthy living grows, the ‘ethical consumer’ now relies heavily on avocados, but we must understand the consequences of our avocado addiction, and the impact our favourite brunch is having on the producers at the start of the food’s journey.
Studies find Mexican states producing avocados for cartels experience a drop in violence. States allowed to trade avocados with the US saw a ‘significant decrease in cartel homicides’ compared to barred regions. Cartels remained present – just less violent.
Contemplating Mexican avocado production, one might picture headlines of cartel violence pervading the avocado industry: seized farms, forced compliance, and brutal punishment. The ‘ethical consumer’ faces a dilemma. Boycotts harm farmers as loss of income*,* and alternative production can be even more dangerous. Is the ethical consumer just doing the best they can amidst the fighting and frenzy that seems to plague parts of Latin America? The reality is more complex. Studies find Mexican states producing avocados for cartels experience a drop in violence. States allowed to trade avocados with the US saw a ‘significant decrease in cartel homicides’ compared to barred regions. Cartels remained present – just less violent. Even cartels appear to operate according to economic theory and neoliberal trade policy, decrease deaths to protect income.
This is classic Trumpian fear-mongering – leading us to believe that everything south of the border is defined by violence, which in turn shapes housing debates and border policy. American fear of southern violence spiralling out of control is somewhat ironic, one military-controlled gun shop exists in Mexico, and over 70% of guns seized at Mexican crime scenes originate from the US. Federal concern rings hollow without efforts to curb the flow of weapons fuelling violence across the border.
So, are avocados in the clear? Far from it. Sensationalism has distracted us from a greater threat.
Your avocado toast is dehydrating a country
Mexico’s water consumption has more than doubled in the last decade, as it became top global avocado exporter. Avocados require immense water, ten times that of tomatoes. Mexico’s climate allows it to consistently produce the 39% of global avocado exports we now expect despite the drain on water supplies facing the country. The environmental consequences are massive with water extraction triggering small earthquakes in Uruapan (the largest avocado producing area in the world). Compounding water usage, destruction of other crops to make room for avocados results in a huge biodiversity loss taking years to recover.
Mexico City is in crisis — it doesn’t have enough water, citizens are spending up to 25% of their income on private water, or going without.
This environmental injustice extends further than land; it affects lives of inhabitants too. Mexico City is in crisis – it doesn’t have enough water, citizens are spending up to 25% of their income on private water, or going without. Mexico uses 92% of its water for agriculture. We must question the ethics of encouraging a country to intensively grow and trade such a water-intensive crop. The avocado trade contributes significantly to Mexico’s GDP, exports in 2023 totalled $3.03 billion, but catastrophic water shortage increases the violent power of cartels. Would most avocado aficionados know their brunch superfood could cost the Mexican people their water supply? How have we allowed this misdirection and oversight?
When breakfast gets political
Contemporary US politics increasingly prioritises short-term, attention-grabbing policies over longer-term economic considerations, particularly in relation to Mexico. Media coverage of cartel violence and border tensions amplifies immediate political agendas while obscuring broader structural effects. Policies such as Trump’s proposed 25% import tariff may generate short-term revenue from exporters able to absorb the cost, but their wider economic consequences remain uncertain. At the same time, the forced removal of migrants reverses what was once framed as a productive blending of cultures, and the loss of migrant labour is likely to have damaging long-term consequences for the U.S. economy.
The Hispanic population, twice as likely to live in poverty, will no longer be able to afford the very food their homeland produced.
Eventually this will be felt by Americans as increased costs inflate commodity price. The Hispanic population, twice as likely to live in poverty, will no longer be able to afford the very food their homeland produced. Somehow the ‘socially conscious’ consumer has overlooked the neo-liberal trade policies increasing Mexico’s dependence on these exports, at great ecological and human cost.
Our sanitised adoption of the avocado strips it from guacamole to toast, destroying Mexico in the process. As Trump and his anti-immigration policies appear to increase in popularity, we seem to also be stripping back the diversity of the USA as deportation programmes begin. The once-celebrated blending of cultures is reversed as migrants are forcibly removed from the country. The shortsightedness plaguing American politics presents here again as the loss of migrant workers will negatively affect the US economy.
Avocados demand re-evaluation from the ethical consumer, dehydrating a country and its people, lost behind fear-mongering tales. Headlines feed growing American concern with southern violence, overlooking longer-term issues. Truly diverting money away from cartels requires reconsidering border policy, tighter border controls boosts cartel funds through expensive people smuggling missions. From environmental mayhem to reflecting a short-term system promoting mass deportation, avocados have impact, and breakfast might require a little more thought.
The views expressed in this post are those of the author, and in no way reflect those of the International Development LSE blog or the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Featured image credit: Photo by Drazen Zigic on Shutterstock