WEBVTT - Green Gold: Avocado Farming in Mexico 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:16.680 Okay, m you said you see, I ah see. Welcome 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:19.319 back to point of origin. This week, we're discussing a 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.040 well known fruit that in the last couple of decades 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.959 has boomed in popularity and demand, in part due to 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:31.560 its association as a healthy food. It's the hoss avocado, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.360 also known as green gold. And the man you just 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:39.640 heard is Saul an Zura's Mendoza, a hass avocado farmer 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:51.760 in the central Mexican state of Mortlos. Mendoza story and 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:55.600 the story of many Mexican avocado farmers like him, comes 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:59.000 to us from wet Stone Magazine six contributor and journalist 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.680 Megan Fry. Megan, in addition to her work as a journalist, 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:07.120 is also a photographer and translator, spent time in Morelos 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.319 learning about and from the farming community. They're discovering what 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:16.320 makes the hass avocados so desirable, both for consumers and producers. 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.920 She also tells us about the hassas darker underbelly, it's 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:25.160 ties to drug cartels and the environmental havoc it's rereaking 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:35.920 on indigenous lands. Megan, can you take us to Modelos 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.880 and give us a bit of history about the variety 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.720 of avocado and also why it's so prevalent here in 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:49.480 the States. Sure. Yeah, it was actually hers cultivated in California, 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:54.440 just outside of Los Angeles by a gentleman named Rudolph 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:59.680 Hass in nine. He was growing experimenting with growing avocado 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:05.160 tree um and his property and he made a blend, 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:12.040 a mix between a Mexican variety and a Guatemalan variety, 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:17.639 and it ended up having a lot of really great qualities, 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.440 which is why we see so many of them today. 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.919 The patent was put on it in ve and it 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:28.120 started to become you know, widely cultivated back in the 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:34.800 nineteen sixties. So the Hass avocado is the most widely 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:39.079 and um in terms of numbers as well um cultivated 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.840 variety of avocado in the world. Um, because it's grown 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:51.160 everywhere now from Mexico to Peru to Indonesia and um. Basically, 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:56.320 what makes the Hass avocado is so attractive is the 0:02:56.360 --> 0:03:00.639 fact that it can be plucked from a tree and 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.160 when it's not ripe yet, and it will ripen but 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.400 over the course of three weeks to a month, so 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.280 it has quite a long period that it can be 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:17.360 sitting in a truck or sitting on a boat. UM. 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:20.359 I say a boat because Japan is a major UM 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:27.560 importer of avocados as well UM from Mexico, and so 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.600 it has that quality where other UM more endemic and 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.600 not genetically modified in any any way, not messed with 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:40.840 in any way. Avocados UM don't have that quality of 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:44.119 having such a thick skin. UM. You know, they could 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:46.960 maybe be plucked from a tree and you've got three 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:51.080 to five days, maybe a week, UM that until you 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.280 have to eat it or else it goes to waste. 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:58.360 The other issue as well is UM that some of 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.119 them have such a thin skin, especially what they call 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:09.800 the um the creole or the creole um mixed avocado UM, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:14.680 that they actually eat the skin it's so thin. The 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:20.039 other varieties, while tastier, have thinner skin and therefore less 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:25.039 shelf life. Given their reduced monetary value, most varieties of 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:34.280 avocados are going uncultivated and largely ignored. And so this 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:39.920 sounds basically like many monocropt plants here in the US, 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:44.440 like the cavendish banana, or like the you know, red 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:50.280 delicious apple. We see that these varieties are developed primarily 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.200 for their ability to last a long time. On the 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:58.800 shelves or in this case, off the vine. So it 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.279 sounds like that's kind of the the same history with 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:06.200 the hass avocado, right, Yes, absolutely, that is what makes 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.560 it so attractive because there are dozens of varieties of avocado, 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.240 and there are some that are crossbread that are being 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:17.479 sold today as well. But um, there's a lot of 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:24.839 varieties in especially the Central Mexico into southeastern Mexico that 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:29.080 are tastier than than the hass avocado. They have a 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:34.160 more creamy texture and they are widely used in different 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.960 aspects of the cuisine. But as far as you know, 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:43.560 getting an avocado from you know, Central Mexico up to Canada, 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:46.080 the hass is the one that will make the trip. 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.120 In Mexico, the point of origin of the avocado, in 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.440 the place from where more than of the sold in 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:04.520 the United States emanate. There are twenty varieties of avocados, 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:09.240 but in supermarkets throughout the US we only see one type, 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:14.760 the Hoss variety. Hass avocados are prized for their adorability 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.720 and because they mature off the vine, meaning that you 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.240 can pick a Hoss avocado in Mexico and eat it 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:31.680 a month later in Canada. So subsequently, because of all 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:36.000 of the desirable characteristics in the marketplace for this avocado, 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:41.960 your story leads us into kind of a darker underbelly 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:47.359 around this industry because of all of the money that's involved. 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:51.080 So can you help us understand what some of the 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.800 dynamics are behind the scenes. First, I'd like to say 0:06:54.839 --> 0:07:02.159 that about of Mexico's avocados that they export go to 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:07.000 the United States, and that number, the number in terms 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:10.000 of the amount of money that that export was worth 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.360 in two thousand and seventeen was about three billion dollars. 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.800 So we're talking about quite a lot of money for 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:24.760 a particular crop. So what we've seen in in places 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.760 in Mexico, the state that produces the largest quantity of 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:36.000 avocados and specifically hostperiety avocados, we have seen that just 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.760 as as if it were any other cash crop, it 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.880 tends to attract the attention of people who you know, 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:57.160 are corrupt or have nefarious activities going on there. There 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:58.960 have been a lot of reports and The Guardian did 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:00.840 a really good report on this couple of years ago 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.560 about um the green gold is what they call the 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:11.920 avocado umo verde, and they call it that metrocon because 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.040 it's worth so much money that it has attracted the 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:20.520 criminal element into its production, and there have been cases 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:27.120 of extortion of farms um, of kidnappings and even murder 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:32.160 um in order for people to gain control and power 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:37.400 of those farms. There's also been a lot of deforestation 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:42.040 um all in a lot of different parts of Mexico 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:48.200 in order to um to plant avocado trees, specifically hot 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:52.559 avocado trees, because they have so much more value, at 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:56.559 least to the people who's interested is in that monetary 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:02.080 value than the pine trees or other um species of 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:05.959 flora that may inhabit those mountains, the mountainous regions where 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.840 they grow so well, getting into the darker side of 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:16.560 the avocado trade and um. The government and the Mexican 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:21.320 government has had a role in that in that they 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:27.480 support you know, this monoculture of the hassa avocado by 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:30.560 coming to places such as they did in Morelos and 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:35.959 Michua kahn Um. Again the hassa avocado was created in California, 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.000 but coming and saying okay, this is going to be 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.040 your crop. And one could argue that that has good 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.560 intentions behind it. I mean, these are you know, people 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.840 who are living in the countryside, who are often quite 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:52.200 removed from different types of services, education, um, different types 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:57.000 of jobs. You know. So this is certainly you know, 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:01.560 in in regions such as Morelos, where they've been growing 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:09.680 figs and peaches and other crops apples, for example, Um, 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:15.559 the avocado, specifically the hassa avocado, does you know, net 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.440 them a lot more money than they would um working 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:28.520 their land and selling peaches in the local market. This 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:34.000 green gold rush feels like something that's a lot more contemporary. 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:39.400 Was there a tipping point in which maybe in consumer 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.640 behavior or the export market or pricing that that really 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.600 changed things with the hassa avocado. I've been told by 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:53.000 professor at UNAM down in Mexico City that not to 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:55.800 had a lot to do with it. Um that opening 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.240 of you know, the borders in the sense of for trade. 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:03.440 So we're talking about the mid nineties. Yeah, so there's 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:10.400 the opening of the door, will say, with NAFTA, And 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:14.080 and then there's this consumer you know, supply and demand. 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:18.959 Obviously there's there's a lot of people who are traditionally 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.240 you know, maybe people who have Mexican heritage who are 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:26.920 accustomed to avocados you know, being part of their their 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.040 traditional foods. So they started to be you know, more 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:35.400 available in in different parts of the United States and 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:39.240 then throughout the world. So, um, you go to Japan 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:42.520 today and you find avocado in the maki roles, and 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.760 that was not always the case. So we're talking mostly 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:49.280 about the avocado fever as they call it in Morelos 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.920 starting around two thousand three, and that's when the government 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.240 came and said, Okay, this is what you're going to 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.720 be growing, and we're willing to buy back some of 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:04.240 the land that was granted two indigenous communities following the 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:09.640 Mexican Revolution and its subsequent agrarian reform, So that now 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.320 we're talking about the twenties and the thirties, but specifically 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:16.480 the nineteen thirties, and so there's actually a process of 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:24.199 buying back of that land, of the communal land. When 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.880 the trade agreement between Mexico, the US, and Canada opened, 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:32.720 a heightened demand for the hass avocado ensued. The Mexican 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.960 government began encroaching into the agricultural sector and making deals 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.920 with farmers that granted them fixed rates in exchange for 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:46.680 planting avocados. Slowly, more farmers began converting into avocado farms. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.000 It is really interesting that the patent came around the 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:59.440 same time as the Mexican Congress passed the bills to 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.160 be able to buy back some of that land. So yeah, 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:07.640 we're talking about the Mexican Revolution, which lasts approximately ten 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:11.600 years nineteen ninety UM. A big focus so that was 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:18.240 peasant rights. People had been working on major Acienda's major 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:23.280 estates and plantations that were primarily owned by whether you want, 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:27.319 whether they were colonizers originally or families of colonizers or settlers. 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.120 So the idea was to give the land back to 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:34.680 the people, and that did happen. But Mexico is, um 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.439 like we all, like most of us, are a capitalist society. 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:42.400 So the money spoke a little bit more than the 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:48.200 land in in certain places. So for them, it has 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:53.280 allowed them to have a lot more of finances, and 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.480 some of them don't. I mean, there are these communal 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.640 lands and then there's people who have property right behind 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:01.840 their houses and they you know, have their avocados there. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.320 They consider themselves avocado farmers. Whether they you know, whatever 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.600 is going to sell and whatever they can use, that 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.960 is what they will cultivate. They learn quite quickly how 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.400 to work with it. And actually I was told by 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:19.120 some people in Quijotengo that in other communities, like the 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:24.240 community leaders have sent some of the farmers two to 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:30.160 study avocado um how to mix essentially, how to make 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.280 a hybrid avocado, and and they're working on that too, 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.240 you know, create different varieties um like such as the 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:42.560 Mendez and the Humenez. So it's it's work these people 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:48.920 are working and with the development of these other cross 0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:54.640 breeds of avocado be done as a way to compete 0:14:54.680 --> 0:15:03.320 with the has so has avocados they can pollinate themselves, 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:08.320 but it works much better and creates a much stronger 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:14.200 crop if they are cross pollinated with other varieties of avocados. 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:18.160 So the idea they they you'll find in most places 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.960 where they um have where it's an avocado zone as 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:24.880 they would call it, they have a lot of hass 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.680 avocados because that's what makes money, but they'll also have 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.160 these different varieties of of avocados because it makes for 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.440 stronger crop. And so I think that the idea behind 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:39.280 that of creating these like cross hybrid you know, in 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.080 that region is they're looking for something that will be 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:46.480 comparable to the hass avocado, but will also benefit all 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.120 of the avocado trees just in case there's a plague, 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:53.320 just in case there's you know, different types of fungus 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.440 hassa avocados are the tree itself is much more susceptible 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:02.120 to um plagues and UM, when I say that, I'm 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:06.160 speaking mostly of like insects. So what they do in 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:10.800 a lot of places is actually use the trunk of 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:15.400 a different type of pandemic avocado, which is stronger and 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:20.040 more resistant to whatever nature may bring its way, whether 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:24.720 it's a drought or UM cold or um some kind 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.560 of epidemic, and then they will use that as a 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:32.080 root stock to grow a hass avocado tree out of that. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:43.760 So I want to ask you about some of the 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:49.040 other players behind the scenes in this story, um, And 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:54.360 one of the shadow elements that you alluded to earlier 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:58.840 has to do with the narco. So at what point 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:03.680 did the the kidnappings and the extortion and the you know, 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:08.640 claiming of property begin? And UM, who has that conflict 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:15.600 been between Yeah, that that conflict has mostly been UM 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:20.680 affecting the state of Michoacan. The state of Michuacan has 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:27.240 really just absolutely ideal conditions for avocados. It does not 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:30.359 get too cold as it does in certain places more 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.800 around Mexico City because of elevation, UM it has really 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.720 fertile soil. There's a lot of dormant volcanoes there. So 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.920 the people who have been you know, who have these 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:47.920 territories and you know, communal land or specifically even communities themselves. 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:54.000 Along with heroin, which is you know, a major cash 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.640 crop um where poppies excuse me, you know um which 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:02.560 become which are used for heroin. The avocado is also 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:11.240 worth a lot of money. So it has affected a 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.280 lot of people by having organized crime come into their 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:22.960 communities and take over their farms, their avocado farms. So 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:27.320 they are basically they're taking the money and the livelihood 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:30.479 of the people and kind of forcing their kind of 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:34.359 keeping them in some ways hostage on their land so 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.760 that they're working at but they are there and they're 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.120 the ones that are making the profit on it, and 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:43.960 they've done so in in violent, in violent ways in 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:48.200 many cases, UM to the point where there's actually vigilante 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:55.520 groups who um protect their own crops and they're armed. 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.640 They're armed vigilantees just trying to make sure that their 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:04.040 cross stay in their hands and that they are actually 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:09.560 making some money off of it. Really organized crime and cartels, 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:13.200 and call them narcos because it typically deal with UM, 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:17.200 you know, illicit substances. They are involved in all kinds 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.200 of things. UM. They're involved in human trafficking, They're involved 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:27.520 in UM anything from even trash removal and pickup. UM. 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.439 There's a lot of money in trash. So it's the 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:34.120 way that Mexico is set up with its corruption, which 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.479 has been going on for a long time, UM you know, 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:42.000 has has given way for people to operate like this. 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.520 Going back to the drug war in Mexico, this is 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:46.600 like the early two thousands, around the time of the 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:50.400 avocado boom, UM, the war on drugs in Mexico, and 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.840 it has caused in some places a lot of UM 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:57.639 violence and a lot of war. Whether we're dealing with 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:02.560 poppies UM or or whether we're dealing with avocados. I 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.080 think most people that you would talk to in Mexico 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:09.760 would tell you that whether you're talking about the military 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:14.200 or the police, or the government and the narcos, they're 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:18.600 all the same and UM. A number of presidents have 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:23.640 been accused of having ties with cartels UM, and obviously 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:25.919 they're the ones who are who would be in charge 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:29.400 of a war on drugs. The real battle of Mexico 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:33.719 right now is corruption is a major major concern and 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.680 it has touched the avocado in in ways that are 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:42.000 quite interesting. Whether it's whether it's heroin or whether it's avocados. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.160 It's useful, it's brings in a lot of money, and 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:50.679 so people want to control it. Yeah, because this is 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:52.800 I mean in terms of a lot of money. We're 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:58.000 talking about a two billion dollar export business just for 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:02.760 avocados alone. Yeah, and just to do just to the 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:07.159 United States, just the US, Yeah, at least two billion. 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:14.960 And so for these farmers, even though historically avocado has 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:20.119 been a part of their diet, they're presumably not eating 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:24.560 these hass avocados because they are so valuable. Because on 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:29.000 the one hand, there is this really valuable crop that 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:31.639 that they're growing, but on the other hand, there are 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:35.600 all these other factions which are hugely complicating their lives 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.400 with the government, with the cartels. How are the farmers 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:43.840 in places like Mitua con navigating making a living and 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.600 also um, all of the things that they're having to 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:51.560 struggle against as well. With the farmers that I spoke to. 0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:54.359 Some of them were flat out, no, we don't eat 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:56.879 this product because it is so valuable. Why would we 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.400 eat our most valuable products. And others are a little 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:03.480 bit more lax about it, and they will eat them. 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:05.960 But for them, you know, this is it's it really 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:10.359 is how they make their money. Um, they don't grow 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:14.560 peaches anymore. UM. You know, they've they've switched completely. So 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:16.800 a day in the life. UM. You know, it's interesting 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:21.080 because the in in waihotel Ango, the farmers that I 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:23.399 spoke with and then I spent time with, have told 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:27.439 me very clearly that there UM quality of life has 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:32.159 improved dramatically in the village. And these are in some cases, 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:36.639 these are areas that were impacted by UM, the seven 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:42.600 point one magnitude earthquake that hit not far from there 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:46.640 in September of two thousand and seventeen, UM that caused 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:51.480 a variety of UM disasters. People are actually reconstructing their 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:53.639 homes in some of these places. They have hopes that 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:57.840 their children will go to college. And these are things 0:22:57.920 --> 0:23:02.119 that twenty years ago before, you know, right before the 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:06.000 avocado fever hit this particular village, it wasn't really something 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:13.520 that people had as a realistic expectation. So there's an 0:23:13.520 --> 0:23:19.359 increase to medical care, there's an increase to being able 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:22.320 to somebody at least that you know has a car. 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:25.000 So that has changed a lot of things, as you 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:31.920 can imagine, um, new roads, paved roads, um, that kind 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:37.639 of thing. So as far as the daily life, I 0:23:37.680 --> 0:23:41.479 mean right now there are some people who are repairing 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:45.639 their homes and other members of the family are, you know, 0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:48.840 working with the crops. If it's a good year, there's 0:23:48.880 --> 0:23:51.760 not a lot that you have to do with the 0:23:51.840 --> 0:23:54.240 crops at all, you know. And by good year, I 0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:58.560 mean if there's enough rain and and that isn't a 0:23:58.640 --> 0:24:01.200 concern in in a lot of places in the world, 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:06.399 and especially it really is in Mexico and Central Mexico. Um. 0:24:06.440 --> 0:24:13.480 So I think people have a quiet pace of life 0:24:14.320 --> 0:24:40.760 in in in these communities. Yes, okay. In fact, I 0:24:40.800 --> 0:24:43.000 remember that the house also used to be worth the 0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:46.200 same as the fourth day eight pasos when it began, 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:48.719 and then they gave it more value when they started 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:55.479 exporting it. I remember when we were behind in a 0:24:55.480 --> 0:24:59.439 lot of ways. But yes, I have seen the improvement. O. 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:09.240 We see still some of these places are quite remote, UM, 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:12.400 or at least were remote until they started to put 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:15.919 in more highways, you know. And and this is something 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:21.720 that happened in basically between the seventies UM up until 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:24.840 more recently in the early two thousand's. You know, these 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:29.560 were communities that um you know, in order to get 0:25:29.600 --> 0:25:32.879 something to market, they would have to travel for days, 0:25:32.880 --> 0:25:37.399 you know, a couple of days. New Mexico operates at 0:25:37.480 --> 0:25:41.760 least informal economy. What what happens a lot is that 0:25:41.800 --> 0:25:45.000 people will come from different places. So the city of Puebla, 0:25:45.520 --> 0:25:50.160 the city of Cornavaca, the city of Mexico city UM 0:25:50.240 --> 0:25:55.960 into this these particular parts of um Morelos and I'm 0:25:55.960 --> 0:25:58.840 sure the same as in Metro kan and and Guerrero 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:03.000 and and others. Dates that our avocado producers they come 0:26:03.040 --> 0:26:06.560 from the city and they offer a price and UM 0:26:06.600 --> 0:26:10.879 and then they take that back into to market. And 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:13.840 you know, I asked about that, and you know, they 0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:16.080 said the farmers. You know, I'm like, do you feel 0:26:16.119 --> 0:26:18.120 like you're getting a fair shake? And they said that, 0:26:19.240 --> 0:26:22.520 you know, essentially yes, because they're selling their avocados for 0:26:22.560 --> 0:26:26.240 more than they were ever worth in the past. And 0:26:27.840 --> 0:26:31.359 it's three hours to get into Mexico City, you know, 0:26:31.480 --> 0:26:35.119 from there, and that's gas money, you know, and that's time. 0:26:35.440 --> 0:26:39.560 So they end up selling them, you know, to a 0:26:39.640 --> 0:26:42.040 third party that comes by and either takes them to 0:26:43.119 --> 0:26:49.399 um ah an export business like a packing um facility 0:26:49.720 --> 0:26:57.040 which is nearby. Actually, you mentioned earlier that some farmers 0:26:57.119 --> 0:27:02.520 are beginning to cross breed new varieties. Is there a 0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:09.040 desire to want to return to some native varieties of avocado, 0:27:09.440 --> 0:27:14.840 both for preservation of culture but also preservation of those 0:27:14.960 --> 0:27:20.520 varieties and not least of which, preservation of land and environment. 0:27:20.600 --> 0:27:23.600 As I know, a lot of land is um being 0:27:23.680 --> 0:27:28.120 deforcedd to to plant avocado trees. So is there a 0:27:28.200 --> 0:27:36.240 return to or promotion of indigenous varieties. I think from 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:41.879 the farmers themselves you would get different answers. Definitely, there's 0:27:41.880 --> 0:27:46.320 a respect for the avocados that they have grown up with, 0:27:46.920 --> 0:27:50.600 that their family has, you know, specific recipes for that 0:27:50.720 --> 0:27:54.119 they know taste better than the hosta does. There is 0:27:54.160 --> 0:27:57.840 a major concern regarding um climate change. There are a 0:27:57.840 --> 0:28:01.439 lot of forest fires in Mexico this year which really 0:28:01.640 --> 0:28:06.440 impacted the presence of pollinators with the smoke. Mexico City 0:28:06.480 --> 0:28:10.119 had a you know, a climate and a climate emergency 0:28:10.160 --> 0:28:15.320 because of it. So there's definitely the desire to keep 0:28:15.480 --> 0:28:21.280 those avocados because they are beneficial two all crops, I mean, 0:28:21.320 --> 0:28:24.359 having the biodiversity, having that, having that diversity and not 0:28:24.480 --> 0:28:28.800 just a monoculture is really beneficial. I I think probably 0:28:28.840 --> 0:28:32.399 what you would see what I see more of um 0:28:32.400 --> 0:28:36.880 as Mexico City and Wahaca another city to mention, become 0:28:37.280 --> 0:28:41.880 more popular with international tourists and as the Mexican middle 0:28:42.000 --> 0:28:45.280 class and upper class kind of lower upper class I 0:28:45.280 --> 0:28:48.600 should say, kind of expand there's a desire to get 0:28:48.640 --> 0:28:51.920 in touch with that. And you'll find, you know, if 0:28:51.920 --> 0:28:55.880 you go to, yeah, a restaurant in in Wahaca or 0:28:56.000 --> 0:28:58.800 Mexico City that kind of prides itself on being like 0:28:58.920 --> 0:29:02.080 ancestral cuisine. You're not going to see hot sa avocados, 0:29:02.120 --> 0:29:04.400 no way. And maybe they're in there somewhere, you know, 0:29:04.520 --> 0:29:07.000 but they that's not going to be on the menu. 0:29:07.400 --> 0:29:10.960 So there's definitely an interest in the preservation. Whether that 0:29:11.040 --> 0:29:15.240 will extend outside of Mexico for you know, again talking 0:29:15.240 --> 0:29:19.680 about like transportation, you know, logistics and that reality behind 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:23.640 that that's yet to be seen. I think but a 0:29:23.680 --> 0:29:26.400 lot of things that can be grown in Mexico can 0:29:26.440 --> 0:29:29.719 also be grown in parts of the United States. Um 0:29:29.800 --> 0:29:32.400 so it would be really interesting, you know, to see 0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:36.360 if that, if if that interest in different types of 0:29:36.480 --> 0:29:40.520 varieties of avocados extend into the United States. It's possible, 0:29:40.640 --> 0:29:43.440 but it's it's not that common, you know. We have 0:29:43.560 --> 0:29:47.720 to remember Mexico is a very diverse country in terms 0:29:47.920 --> 0:29:53.560 of rural versus urban and in terms of the different 0:29:53.560 --> 0:29:56.080 groups of people who live there and and have called 0:29:56.120 --> 0:30:10.440 at home for millennia. Species the Persa genus has several species. 0:30:10.800 --> 0:30:14.640 All the species are American and in fact fundamentally Mesoamerican. 0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:24.840 The avocado boom means eleven billion pounds are consumed annually worldwide. 0:30:25.560 --> 0:30:27.880 The fact that so much money is involved in the 0:30:27.960 --> 0:30:31.760 exportation of avocados has led to a number of documented 0:30:31.800 --> 0:30:37.040 perils in Mexican society. Among them, drug traffickers have taken 0:30:37.080 --> 0:30:41.800 over avocado farms, extorted farmers, kidnapping and in some cases 0:30:41.840 --> 0:30:45.520 even murdering them. Forest in Mexico have been upended to 0:30:45.560 --> 0:30:50.200