In the last few years, the avocado has transcended its humble fruity form to reign supreme over brunch occasions the world over. And for good reason – it’s loaded with potassium, healthy fats, and more vitamins than you could shake a lime at.
The superfood has become the symbol of the millennial and, let’s face it, a surefire way to rake in the Insta-likes.
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For a while it seemed as though the avocado could do no wrong, but now a number of hipster cafes have decided to cull it from their menus over ethical concerns.
One such venue is The Wild Strawberry Cafe in Buckinghamshire, which took to Instagram to explain the ban. Reasons range from the air miles those little green vitamin orbs rack up en-route to your breakfast plate to issues with sustainability.
“The western world’s obsession with avocado has been placing unprecedented demand on avocado farmers, pushing up prices to the point where there are even reports of Mexican drug cartels controlling lucrative exports,” the cafe said.
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“Forests are being thinned out to make way for avocado plantations. Intensive farming on this scale contributes to greenhouse emissions by its very nature and places pressure on local water supplies.”
The Wild Strawberry Cafe isn’t the only brunch venue to buck the trend; earlier this year, Tincan Coffee Co in Bristol dropped avocados from its menu, while Aegean-inspired London restaurant Firedog vowed it would always be an avo-free zone.
In 2016, Greenpeace Mexico – which, to be fair, probably knows a fair bit about this sort of thing – warned that people in the country may end up paying a higher price for our love of smashed avo.
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“Beyond the displacement of forests and the effects on water retention, the high use of agricultural chemicals and the large volumes of wood needed to pack and ship avocados are other factors that could have negative effects on the area’s environment and the wellbeing of its inhabitants,” it told The Guardian.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
