The long read Inside Mexico’s anti-avocado militias

The Guardian ^ | 11 June 2024 | Alexander Sammon

[DUMBGRUNT]

The green-gold rush.

... A few years ago, in nearby Uruapan, the second-largest city in the state, 19 people were found hanging from an overpass, piled beneath a pedestrian bridge, or dumped on the roadside in various states of undress and dismemberment – a particularly gory incident that some experts believe emerged from cartel clashes over the multibillion-dollar trade.

...I asked if he’d encountered illegal avocados in Cherán. He said he had. Everyone knows the rules, he told me, “but there is still tension here, even now”. When avocados are discovered, patrols dig up the trees and destroy them. The offending planter will be sent to the town jail, where he’ll be forced to issue a formal apology and pay a fee. A repeat offender can have his land requisitioned by the government.

Michoacán’s avocado production went from about 800,000 tonnes in 2003 to more than 1.8m tonnes in 2022. Over the same period, the US’s avocado consumption quadrupled.

[Moltke]

Not so bad as the few other times I’ve read their manure: Climate Change is mentioned ONLY THREE TIMES!!!

For a long article that’s astonishing - I would’ve expected at least one mention per paragraph.

[Species8472]

We grow more than 200 varieties of avocados on the island of Hawaii! The Sharwil variety is as big as your head and makes enough guacamole to feed a party!

[Reeses]

The internet has changed the world, made remote work possible, and built the world’s greatest library of information. Hopefully, someone in Hawaii that knows how to grow avocados will record some YouTube videos for all mankind to have forever. In Thailand, the local avocados are so bad, they import frozen ones all the way from Peru. Growing avocados isn’t just planting a big seed. Grafting on branches from different varieties to get an edible avocado is key.