Mexico avocado price sparks fears of unrest

[nadinbrzezinski]

Recently, it's felt as if the whole country has been talking about the same thing - and for once it's not football or the latest hit telenovela. Around dinner tables, in street markets and at work, it's the price of avocados that has been on everyone's mind.

From costing a couple of dollars per kilo earlier this year, avocados went on a constant price climb which appeared to know no end - rising all the way up to $5-6 per kilo. I heard of sightings of a kilo of avocados for more than $8.

In a country that takes its food seriously, this was a recipe for disaster.

Soft as butter and slightly sweet, avocado was first grown around 12,000 years ago in the south of Mexico. It's now a delicacy prized the world over.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14845528

Comment http://posterous.com/#spaces/nadinbrzezinski/posts/70463659

Damn system of measures, I should clarify a kilo is 2.2 pounds

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[lillypaddle]

2. Really!

avocados were over $2 each at the grocery store this weekend! Damn, I miss my guacamole.

[dembotoz]

3. you will need a glock to guard your guac - mole

sorry
i love puns and stupid word jokes
my bad

[lillypaddle]

6. ha!

:spray:

[MerryBlooms]

7. $2.49 ea. here. n/t

[lillypaddle]

15. It's criminal

It's criminal, I tell ya!

[MerryBlooms]

16. There's a little family owned Mexi hole-in-the-wall restaurant we love

locally. Earlier this summer, it was $1.00 to add avocado to a meal, it's now $1.75 and guacamole in a bowl on the side is $3.50.

I noticed no one buying avocados at the mkt and they're basically sitting there rotting/molding at the $2.49 price. I guess the mkt is ok with the write-off?

[RebelOne]

17. Last week in my local Kroger they were $1 each.

Could have gone up since then. I love avocados, but have suddenly developed an allergy to them. So I am not going to worry about the price since I can't eat them anyway.

[MerryBlooms]

19. Do you have PayPal? lol

It's not only the avocados, but the bell peppers! OMgosh, those puppies better have golden seeds, because that's the only way I'm going to pay $2.19 ea. I have only once gotten bells at a decent price this year and so I bought a whole schmear of them and put them up in the freezer. I'm making red/green pepper jelly and jalapeno jelly to put in our gift baskets this year. Eesh, peppers were the last thing on my supply list I thought I'd be paying through the nose for.

[me b zola]

12. I know. They are one of my favorite foods

...but i can't afford them. :(

[MineralMan]

4. Holy Glockammo-ly, Batman!

My parents raise avocados on their farm in California. You should see how little they get for them, despite the high store prices. So, they've gotten together with another farmer, and work with a guy who sells both at farmer's markets and at the wholesale vegetable market in Los Angeles. Now, they're getting more for them. The avocados are hand-picked, and only the perfect ones get sold. They bring great prices at both outlets. Fewer avocados are sold, but they're making more money from them in total. Too many middlemen the other way.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. +100

[MineralMan]

10. A lot of the avocados end up in expensive restaurants in LA.

The seller goes to the LA market every day during the season, and only fully ripe avocados are sold. The restaurant buyers are some of the first at the market, and they grab them up at top prices. Every one is ripe, unbruised, and ideal for use in a restaurant setting. The guy who hauls them down there takes a cut on all sales, and the growers get the rest. It works out very well. The rest of what is picked is sold to farmer's market sellers at the market, in box lots for somewhat less.

My parents are not the only ones doing this. They're thinking about planting some lime trees next. Apparently the demand for a specific variety of limes is high and the supply is low. Pretty ambitious for 87-year-olds, I think.

Hi, Mom & Dad!

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Larger picture

:hide:

[malaise]

9. We have an abundance of avocados

right now. I adore them.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. :-)

[mitchtv]

11. as much as I like them, I am real tired

of getting bad avocados at the market, there are too many lousy ones being presented for sale, and for more than a buck apiece, that's my cut off. Chile sends many to our Socal markets, and I know the farmers get little for them. Luckily family has a few trees.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. On a very personal note

I like them... but the parrots can't have it... beggy birds, so we don't buy them.

[Habibi]

18. Seems to have been a glut of ripe avocados at

our local farmer's market the last couple of weeks--$1 each. Hoping there are still some ripe ones left for sale tomorrow. I love them, but only buy them when they are wicked cheap.