Re: Green Gold Bleeds Red: The hidden cost of avocados
Photo by Belle White, Photo Editor
I appreciated Anabelle Budd’s informative and well-researched article on the hidden cost of avocados. I was alarmed by the fact that Mexican producers of non-organic avocados are continuing to spray “huge quantities” of “highly toxic pesticides” on their avocado crops, and that a “significant number of pesticides used on avocado orchards are banned in Europe and Mexico because of high toxicity”. Ms. Budd writes that we can “practice looking beyond every product at the people, animals, environment, and systems of production” that brings these products to our plate, but I wish this article would have went further and urged people to practice ethical consumerism and buy certified organic fair trade avocados, which would protect Mexican farmer and ecosystem health, and provide a living wage for Mexican farmers. While journalism strives to be objective, it always influences people. Because our ecological life support systems are under duress, we need to take every opportunity to provide concrete actions readers can choose to take to make this world a better place.
James Skwarok
Saanich
