Avocados
Last updated
Last updated
Avocados are often used in anti-vegan arguments to misrepresent veganism as a privileged and hypocritically environmentally damaging movement. However, even avocados are far more environmentally efficient than many animal products.
Water is the main resource consumed by avocado production. The water needed per kilogram to grow avocados (600 L) is comparable to bananas (790 L) and apples (822 L), and is far less than animal products such as beef (15,415 L), pork (4,988 L), and chicken (4,325 L). "the amount of water avocados require ranks lower than the average within the fruits and vegetable market [...] the average water footprint per kilogramme of avocado is just 1/15th of the water required to irrigate the same quantity of beef [by weight]" - using figures from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Some avocado production is rainfed, while others use irrigation to improve efficiency. "avocado growers have invested in advanced irrigation systems to improve water efficiency. [...] Production in tropical countries such as Colombia and the Dominican Republic is mainly rainfed. Therefore, the use of irrigated water (also called blue water footprint) is relatively low, compared to countries like Israel, Chile, and South Africa"
Where are Avocados from? US: "California now accounts for the majority of U.S. avocado production [...] Mexico supplied most of the avocados imported into the United States in 2021" UK: "Peru, South Africa, Chile, Israel and Spain (in that order) accounting for 84% of the avocados brought into the UK over the last 5 years" How are they transported? Boats Avocados from South America are typically transported by massive boats which are very efficient. Semis Avocados from Mexico are transported to the US using semi trucks. Planes "the vast majority of foods are actually transported via land and sea, with just 0.16% of food miles coming from air travel on average" What's the impact? Emissions from transporting food are quite negligible since so much food is transported at once. "the trendy practice of 'eating local' has very little impact. One study found that, in the US, the proportion of a food's emissions linked to transport works out at just 11%. In comparison to the carbon required to make it, even travelling long distances – the average product has covered 6,760km (4200 miles) by the end of its life – makes a relatively small contribution."
To the point, anyone who is concerned about environmentalism would benefit from knowing that "going vegan could reduce your food-related greenhouse gases by up to 73 per cent. Poore [an environmental researcher] says: 'A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth.'" And "51% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are caused by animal agriculture. Every year, animal agriculture produces at least 32 billion tons of CO2." And in this study their results showed that "diets are the main determinant of GHG emissions, with highest GHG emissions found for scenarios including high meat demand, especially if focused on ruminant meat and milk."