BLOG POST 3: AVO AND PAPRIKA

The first ingredient I was curious to research in my food blog post was avocados...because they’re so delicious and I eat about 10 of them a week (not kidding). I found that the country that currently produces the most avocados in the world is Mexico. According to a report published by the United States Department of agriculture, Mexico is estimated to have produced 2.33 million metric tons of avocados by the end of 2022. Nevertheless, insufficient rainfall and higher temperatures have slowed down the rate of production. Other countries such as the Dominican Republic and Peru come in close on the list of production of avocados. As I conducted my research, I noticed that many countries with warm, tropical, humid climates produced the most avocados. That is because avocados thrive in this kind of weather and need a substantial amount of water to grow and yield crops at a vast rate. Avocados surprisingly have a negative impact on the environment because they encourage deforestation. Farmers clear out large plots of land to grow these trees and it harms native plants and wildlife that previously inhabited the area (local impact). Deforestation is also known to cause soil erosion, flooding, Crest amounts of carbon in the atmosphere (greenhouse gases which contribute to globally rising temperatures), desertification etc. In addition to this, avocados need a significant amount of water. During times when there is less rain, farmers use local water supplies to keep the plants growing which can cause drought and it endangers the reserve of natural water sources. Because avocados are being produced at such an industrial level, pesticides are needed to prevent any insects from destroying the crop. These pesticides, such as abamectin, are found in water sources which harm wildlife and humans. The avocados I consume come from supermarkets. I get them from Trader Joes, Pick 'n Save or Aldi's. In order to export these items so that they reach the shelves of grocery stores they need to be transported in trucks and planes to get to the U.S. machinery such as these burn CO2 which is released into the atmosphere which directly contributes to climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere causing rising temperatures and lower air quality. Not to mention, these methods of transportation also release other toxins into the air such as nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide. The second ingredient I researched was paprika. There are many countries in the world that produce paprika such as Spain, but Hungary is the top producing country of the spice. Paprika is an incredibly versatile crop and can be grown during rainy or dry seasons and can be cultivated in many kinds of soil. Aside from the harmful pesticides used such as the one I mentioned above, paprika is fairly sustainable to grow. It does not require massive amounts of water, nor does it cause deforestation because it can be grown almost anywhere therefore there are not any substantial negative environmental impacts to soil, water, air pollution or wildlife. Still, one negative thing about paprika is that it must be imported and exported just as avocados are. The transportation of trucks, cars and planes used to move paprika across the world releases CO2 into the environment. Paprika is grown in South America and Mexico, so it would have traveled the same distance as the avocados that reach the shelves of the grocery stores I shop at. Paprika produces more waste because it is a spice and so it needs to be packaged in containers, usually plastic. Plastic is not biodegradable and if not disposed of properly it can end up being discarded and oceans, rivers, forests etc. Some plastics even contain harmful chemicals which can find themselves seeping into the soil as well. Avocados do not require any sort of packaging because they have a protective skin around them and the scraps are biodegradable and can be used in compost. They will naturally degrade into rich nutrients, replenishing the quality of soil.