The rapidly growing demand for avocados in the United States may have driven over 70,000 acres of deforestation in neighbouring Mexico over the past decade, according to a report by Climate Rights International and Guardian Forestal. Mexico has $3 billion avocado exports per year and 80 percent of the produce is imported by the US. Top US importers to supermarket chains such as Walmart Inc. and Trader Joe’s Co. have been growing their avocados in Mexican areas that were in many cases cleared illegally with fires. These companies source avocados from that land even when shown evidence of deforestation in their supply chains.
