Avodaco And Deforestation In Central Mexico

I'm not naive into thinking that a small act often can make a difference. It is not usual and happens only in rare cases. But still, I doesn't mean that I don't care.

I read this article about how the growing appetite for avocado is driving farmers in Mexico to cut down on forest to plant more avocado trees.

Avocado trees flourish at about the same altitude and climate as the pine and fir forests in the mountains of Michoacan, the state that produces most of Mexico’s avocados. That has led farmers to wage a cat-and-mouse campaign to avoid authorities, thinning out the forests, planting young avocado trees under the forest canopy, and then gradually cutting back the forest as the trees grow to give them more sunlight.

What is more devastating for me is that this happens in the Michoacan forest where the Monarch butterflies over-winter, and I LOVE MONARCH BUTTERFLIES after I learned about their multi-generation life-cycle. I plant milkweed in my yard hoping to attract them.

So I'm now rethinking and hesitating to buy "Avocados from Mexico", as the slogan from the TV commercial says.

Zz.