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So long guacamole!
The drought is leading to many changes in how we live in California (well, except golf courses and entitled assholes who live in Rancho Mirage). One of those changes, according to a writer for New York Magazine, is having avocados to eat.
In his piece, entitled “Have You Eaten Your Last Avocado?”, Adam Stenbergh looks at what it takes to grow avocados and how the terrible California drought may have farmers making some changes.
It takes 72 gallons of water to grow a pound of avocados . Meanwhile, a pound of tomatoes only requires 9 gallons. Factor in that farmers pay $1,500 per acre-foot for their water, which has increased from $72 per acre-foot forty years ago, and…well, you do the math.
In 1999, Americans consumed 1.1 pounds of avocados (which is a fruit by the way…who knew?) per person – but, by 2014, that number had skyrocketed to 5.8 pounds each. Which would be great news for avocado farmers if, you know, they only had the water necessary to grow them.
Now do not go panicking and running out to Stater Bros. to buy up all the avocados today. Sternbergh concedes in his article that avocados are probably not the first agricultural product that would be abandoned in California (almonds and dairy would most likely go first, making my cereal really gross in the morning). “Avocados won’t disappear; they’ll just become a luxury item,” he concludes.
I hope you like your chips with salsa…and only salsa.
(H/T LAist)
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