According to the Hass Avocado Board (HAB), United States avocado consumption has doubled in the last decade. Shipments across the country went from 565,000 metric tons (MT) in 2010 (more than 1.2 billion pounds) to almost 990,000 MT in 2015 (more than 2.2 billion pounds), according to HAB’s Yearly Volume Data. In many exporting areas, such as Mexico, the rapid increase in demand has put a strain on local environments.
Tree clearing and a higher water demand reduce forest cover and soil water-storing capacity, leaving high exporting regions prone to fires. According to Ricardo Luna García, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary for Michoacán, in the current administration 40 percent of forest fires were a result of deforestation practices aiming to establish avocado orchards and other crops and to widen urban grazing areas. Forest cover loss estimates range from 30 percent across the state to up to 60 percent in the regions of the Purépecha Plain, la Cañada de los Once Pueblos, and the lakeside of Pátzcuaro.
