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Avocados are delicious food sources that have countless of benefiting factors to eating them. A staple food that you will find in popularized vegetarian diets. The vegetarian diet has also been increasingly popular among the dietary spectrum. Not only is being a vegetarian noted for its health benefits. It plays a significant ethical role when its members choose to convert. In health, Ethics and the Environment: A qualitative study of vegetarian motives, twenty-eighth of participants participated in a study to answer the simple question of why they chose vegetarianism. Animal welfare is the most prominent decision. But there is the underlying fact that there is a complementary concern to the environment. And this stems from the impacts of the meat industry. One participant noted that they “found there are health and environmental benefits to vegetarianism, as well as lessened injury to animals. It’s all good.” But is it all good? There is a misconception within the agriculture industry that people overlook, and the unfortunate effects of mass production on the environment contribute to health complications. 

There is a global production of avocados, and it’s noted in Living Wage Report for Michoacán, Mexico-Non-metropolitan urban and rural northwestern regions that this production has increased by 172% during the last decade. Now, most of the world’s avocados come from Michoacán, Mexico. And agriculture in this region is their most influential economic income. Mexicos mass production of avocados contributes to 50% of the international contribution of the avocado product. But the secret is because avocados are produced in abundance, it creates a detrimental impact on the surrounding environment. When a single product like avocados is grown in a similar location, it disrupts the natural process of agriculture. Meaning when you grow only one plant, in one area all the time the soil starts to degrade. This immense amount of growth will yield fewer avocados per year. If avocados can’t keep up with demand, there will be devastating consequences for Mexico’s economy. And vegetarians worldwide will be disappointed if one of their popular foods isn’t always available. 

To combat the sequences of nature and make sure yields are consistent most companies resort to fertilizers. In the Investigation of Effect of Chemical Fertilizers on Environment, it empathizes that most fertilizers contain several ingredients. These ingredients are phosphate, nitrate, ammonium, and potassium salt. They’re are the steroids of plants and are supposed to increase plant production. But fertilization over accumulates heavy metals within the soil. This can result in finding a fertilizer in places it is not intended. There is a high level of nitrogen in fertilizers. And only about 50% of the that will be absorbed by plants. The remainder amount of the nitrogen will seep into the soil and find its way into groundwater. With that being said, there is research that finds high levels of nitrogen in wells of agriculture areas that use fertilizers as a means of production.

But water isn’t the only factor that is affected by the mass production of avocados, fertilizers are potent in soil and air pollution. Soil isn’t as easy to track as water because it doesn’t fall into a stream or sewage and, there isn’t a directive factor of pollution within the soil and the air like water. So soil pollution isn’t as immediately obvious, but it’s seen through time when the soil starts to degrade. Ingredients like sodium and potassium can negatively impact the soil throwing off its PH balance.  

And although air pollution isn’t as prominent as the water or soil, there are nitro oxide emissions caused by fertilization. This gas is sitting in the low layer of the tropospheric ozone and contributes to gases not being able to leave earth, commonly known as the greenhouse effect. 

And these pollutions are taking a toll on the people of Michoacán, Mexico. Pollution is undoubtedly bad for the environment, but it can cause serious health implications for the people living in the area. Environmental pollutions: Its effects on life and its remedies evaluate how pollutions can cause serious health problems. It is lead to believe that in the case of water pollution, it is said that water pollution is the leading cause of death and affects such a wide range of areas like our oceans, lakes, and drinking water. Drinking polluted water can give one water-borne disease like; Hookworm, liver and kidney damage, and in severe cases cancer and heart disease. High concentrations of nitrogen in water pollution also have secondary effects on infants that cause methemoglobinemia. It is a blood disorder where an unusual amount of Hemoglobin protein is produced, disrupting the distribution of oxygen throughout the body, creating what the world likes to call blue baby syndrome. Infants don’t have stomach acid so they cant in a sense fight off the nitrate, and as a result, iron and oxygen transfer in the blood are lost, leaving infants strangled to death. Yes, the mass production of avocados is killing infants because of how recklessly the world desires this food. 

And there is a power struggle in Michoacán, Mexico between the economy and the health of the citizens. In, Living Wage Report Michoacán, Mexico Non-metropolitan urban and rural northwestern regions it is accounted that 46% of citizens live in poverty. There is a lack of health care and social security access. And 28% of citizens do not have health care access at all. If people can’t afford health care, then pollution in this area caused by avocados is significant to their lives. They cannot cure the disease or get help for their newborn children, and they’re left stuck. Vegetarianism and popular global foods are damaging communities and lives. A diet that focuses on the well-being of animals because they’re being slaughtered doesn’t account for the people suffering in Mexico because avocados are a staple food. And it makes one wonder, is being a vegetarian worth the cost of human lives. 

References

K;, F. N. W. (2007, September 20). Health, ethics and environment: A qualitative study of vegetarian motivations. Appetite. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17980457/.

Khan, M. A., & Ghouri, A. M. (2012, January 8). Environmental pollution: Its effects on life and its remedies. SSRN. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1981242.

Marcelo D, Rocío E, Claudia F, Martha A, Richard A. (2020, October). Living Wage Report Michoacán, Mexico Non-metropolitan urban and rural northwestern regions. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from : Marcelo Delajara, Rocío Espinosa and Claudia Fonseca, with Martha Anker and Richard Anker.

M, R., M, N., & R, N. (2016, January). Soil pollution: Causes, effects and control. Research Gate. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

Reynolds, T. W., Waddington, S. R., Anderson, C. L., Chew, A., True, Z., & Cullen, A. (2015, July 7). Environmental impacts and constraints associated with the production of major food crops in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Food Security. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12571-015-0478-1.

Savci, S. (2012, July 19). Investigation of effect of chemical fertilizers on environment. APCBEE Procedia. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212670812000486.