Avocado, my favorite is a climate Killer?

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This Superfruit has a bad reputation. Wrongly accused!

How did the avocado get its bad reputation?

If you compare the avocado to other fruits and vegetables it doesn’t look that drastic.

What’s good in this fruit?

The qualities of the avocado are undisputed: high nutritional value, lots of protein, fiber, and vitamins, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Aztecs, who cultivated the fruit more than 10,000 years ago in the Guatemalan-Mexican border area, called it “ahuacatl”, in English: testicles, because of its shape.

How much do we eat?

The avocado is considered a trend fruit that has become popular in Europe and worldwide with the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle. The numbers are impressive: After 2000, 3700 tons were imported into Switzerland alone, in 2010 6000 and in 2021 more than 19000 tons. Last year, Migros, a Swiss supermarket chaine, imported 7,461 tons or 24,698,532 pieces.

How much water does she swallow?

It takes around 600 liters of water to produce one kilogram of avocados. Is that much? Basically yes. At least if fruit comes from a dry country. But in a liter-per-kilogram comparison, it no longer looks so drastic. Some examples: 790 liters of water for a kilo of bananas, 800 for apples; 15,000 liters for beef, and 17,000 liters for chocolate.

What is the impact of transport on the climate?

If you measure the influence on climate and the environment, the focus is primarily on production. Any transportation is negligible as long as it is not by plane – which is hardly the case with avocados. Interesting: Ship transport is 20 to 30 times more efficient than road transport. Avocados from overseas are no worse for the climate than those from Spain or Portugal, on the contrary.

So, spread butter or avocado on your bread?

Smearing avocado on toast is 3x better than butter in terms of environmental and climate issues. In order to cover a third of the daily requirement of a person, 1384 grams of CO2 are produced with butter and only 457 grams with an avocado.