Superfoods and the environment - Avocados and blueberries from South America | DW Documentary
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- čas přidán 2. 02. 2023
- Superfood fruits - good for us, but bad for the environment? Growing avocados and blueberries requires a lot of water; and because they’re usually transported to Germany from other continents, that also leaves a large carbon footprint.
Avocados and blueberries are marketed as superfoods in Europe. Nutrient-rich fruits bursting with health benefits. But in Chile, avocado farming is already causing massive water shortages; blueberry farms in Peru are currently undergoing huge expansion. The journalist Matthias Ebert went to Peru and Chile to research the environmental and human cost of the superfood industry.
Smallholders in the Chilean province of Petorca have been growing avocados for many years. But a sharp increase in demand for the fruit in Europe and the US in the 1990s triggered a production surge. Since then, the avocado market has been dominated by big landowners - and is consuming huge volumes of water. One kilo, or three avocados, requires 1,000 liters of water, many times more than what’s needed to grow tomatoes or oranges. Water activist Rodrigo Mundaca has been on the frontline of this battle for years and is now one of the region’s most important politicians. He’s made it his mission to reform Chile’s water legislation.
Just like avocados in Chile, Peruvian blueberries have also experienced a boom in recent years. The sweet fruits are grown in black plastic sacks on the arid desert soil and exported to Germany, primarily in the months of November and December. Peru hasn’t yet been hit by water shortages, but producers plan to expand cultivation on a massive scale, requiring larger and larger amounts of water, which they’d very much like to divert from the Andes to the desert-like blueberry farms. Avocados and blueberries from South America - superfood or climate killer?
#documentary #dwdocumentary #superfood
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The forests in Finland are full of natural blueberries and yet they import cultivated blueberries from Peru - 14 000 kilometres away. It’s simply madness.
Yeah we need some reeducation, I've got a couple of bushes in my Dutch garden they produce well
sure but its not about the blueberries or any specific commodity, it is about exploiting human labor......finland does not have cheap labor in the forests.
@@jokers7890 On the contrary, even cheap labor from Thailand is imported to Finland to pick up the berries. Do your homework better, amigo.
The world is insane!!!
@@Tenavatuokio lol your comment demonstrates why finland is being destroyed by russia
I won't eat a single avocado ever again! As an european consumer i think that I should be more careful about other peoples' suffering. Thank you DW for exposing the cruel reality that this people suffer!
For those who owns a home with a yard..try planting food in your yard (fruits, vegetables) so you don't have to constantly buy food from other places.
That’s a great idea. But people want things year round. The northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere have different growing seasons. I live in CA, USA and when it’s winter here it’s summer in Chile so they import fruits from there to here.
@@punk4life138 Freeze them. Then you have for those months. I grew up in California and the reality is, you need to get over your spoiled lifestyle. Water is running out!!!!
@@melissahouse3488 I completely agree with the video and your statement about water running out. It’s a precious finite resource.
I never said that “I” needed blueberries year round, did I? I was making a general statement about our demanding, everything now, culture. I thought that was clear.
In America or Australia or South Africa but not Germany I'm afraid
Stop taking 2 hour showers!
Almost 5 years ago I saw the documentary about Avacado in this Channel and I remember Rodrigo Mundaca....Now he is the governor of that province....Feeling happy for him....Keep fight for the Water👍....
This makes me so sad that greedy individuals make so many suffer just for more money. Money will not help them when our planet dies from greed. Thak you DW for such good docos.
Wonderfully put. They'll be choking on their greed then.
Agree.. Greedy for more money...they are not thinking about the environment. If trees and other vegetations plants cut and kill... Then the habitat will ruined
I mean.... If they have enough money maybe they can make a contact with the musk man. So they can join his circle and leave the planet together when the earth is ded .
It's funny how things are . Growing up in Brazil ,we had avocados, mangos,and citrus as "poor people fruits" because they would grow anywhere even without someone taking care of the trees properly. But now avocados have become "super food".
Eating local seasonal food is so much more important for the environment than going vegan.
What is sad is in Africa we havr completely abandoned our indigenous vegetables, i mean no one is interested in them because of commercialisation of exotic fruits and veggies that are readily available in the market.
@@kamogelomosweu1869 don't let that happen! It is such a big loss
we can live without those super fruits right? but not without water
Thank you!!!! 🙏🏻
Water = Life! Stop stealing water from poor residents!
So true , sad... how those water companies can place chemicals into water
Water is LIFE and it should not be privatize
capitalism says otherwise......but you still support capitalism
@@jokers7890 not in my country you joker
I agree, but if business buys the land where the rivers begin, then water gets 'captured' before it leaves the area.
@@jokers7890 Blame the government evil scumbag. They're the ones who put the water up for sale.
I don't understand how this water privatization works
As an avocado exporter from Kenya to the European market, this is an insightful documentary by DW. When it comes to water consumption, we know about this issue and we ensure an environmentally sustainable and responsible irrigation of avocado production at our farms.
Greed is the issue.
Do u guys export avocado seedlings to other African countries?
ebu ni chat nione ka tunaeza saidiana apo kwa export niko na mboga na cerials mob
Greed is the problem. We cannot substitute maize for Avocado.
No you not the one with out water you speak confident but how about the ppl the reality you're aware but you do it anyway because of greed and arrogance for the poor?
Thankful for documentaries like these to keep us informed on what's going on in other countries
Thanks a lot for watching and for your positive feedback!
It's the same in many places xx
Lies again? AIA Vitality Bang Bros
That's because the Pharma is our Farmer now. Ppl want genetically modified fruits and vegetables.
Water is life. In the desert country we recognize this. If people shall grow fruit & vegetables they need to grow them in climatic locations that have those conditions that those crops are suited for. California is experiencing the effects of growing plants that would not survive without an "artificial" water supply and more "artificial" fertilizer.
Big error that was done in California, you will have big water issues in the future.
Rewolucja haitańska pod przywództwem Toussaint L'Ouverture doprowadziła do powstania pierwszej na świecie czarnej republiki i zniesienia niewolnictwa na Haiti. To zwycięstwo było inspiracją dla zniewolonych ludzi w całej Ameryce i źródłem strachu dla posiadaczy niewolników.
Literally trade is something that people starts to communicate, trade is something people exchange culture and values..
I believe one thing, when trade stops the war starts. It's so easy to lunch a war, but it's so difficult or almost impossible sometimes to stop the war. Iraq war, Afghanistan war is that finished? No!.
yet Trading on bitcoin is one of the most reliable online global wealth creation.
@@oscarkelly3378 Looking forward to bitcoin
@@craigpotter1262I think your proposal has much to comment on ..
Because basically there are actually a lot of ways to make high yields most especially trading bitcoin
I admit to buying citrus and pineapple when they are in season, but I guess it could come down to eating only what grows near you. Worldwide greed for exotic fruits on demand, year round should never come at such expense to the exporting nation’s own people.
Yes, it is important to raise awareness in Europe (and everywhere) to reduce the environmental impact. These are healthy and delicious fruits, avocados have a lot of vitamins and minerals and other nutrients that makes it a very healthy food and an excellent choice to replace saturated fat sources like margarine (terrible food), butter, egg, cheese, or processed meats which,according to studies, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases to up to 22 % . And blueberries are full of nutrients, too, they contain one of the highest antioxidant levels amongst commonly consumed fruit and vegetables... We should never think that these fruits are themselves the issue, just like we cannot blame a cow for deforestation or pollution... The problem is, how we humans grow and raise them and consume them (if we should consume meat at all; controversial, I know). If the whole planet worked together as a team we would certainly find a way to produce and consume these fruits and other healthy foods that doesn't harm the environment. As long as we produce food and other things just for profit and not for the benefit of everyone (including animals and the planet) we will continue to have these challenges. Water should not be privatized, the management of this precious natural resource should always be in the hands of the people, It's a human right... “There’s a fundamental problem here: the end goal for our water is to make money, not wellbeing for people,” - a Chilean protester- ... Ps I wonder (it's not irony) how much water, wine and meat production (which they export, as well) consumes in Chile... I sincerely hope the Chilean people can find a peaceful and effective way around all this... Saludos.
Thank you for coming to Valparaiso - the place I've called home for years. Increasing water scarcity in the past few years has caused me great alarm and forced me to rethink the most basic of my daily habits, especially given the exorbitant rates that ESVAL, the regional water company charges per cubic meter of H2O. I frequently talk to merchants at the farmer's markets who tell me of the lack of water in their producers' fields and that some resort to irrigating with river water contaminated with "treated" wastewater from Santiago. Water is scarce here and what is left is often heavily polluted and dangerous for all life. The only waterfall in Valparaiso is now fed exclusively with treated sewage from ESVAL, leading the water at the Placilla waterfall to assume a green hue and pungent odor.
I love avocados and they are are an important part of my diet. But I didn't know of this. And they are soo expensive here (South Africa).Very eye opening and DW never fails to deliver good quality documentaries
Thanks a lot for watching and taking the time to comment!
I remember seeing avocado trees when visiting SA. I wonder why they are so expensive there.
@Julie Fleiser it's like that with hazelnuts and walnuts in Slovakia. They are expensive to buy, but most people have those nut trees in their gardens. That high price is for the people who can't grow their own. I'm not sure if that's the case in SA, though
@@jooleepadoolie There are main Avacado growers in California, but the trees take huge amounts of water and California is in drought!
Maybe the answer is that we have way too many humans on the planet now. Not to mention wreckless unthoughtful humans.
Thank you for that. I work on a blue berry orchard.
Do I understand that properly? They're going to divert water from the largest natural rainforest to their blueberries? I guess they'd have a limit to how much water the can use before it's detrimental.
Superfoods are really overrated. There are already plenty of local, seasonal superfoods in every part of the world; why not eat those?
Just like vegetables farmers market their products as the best as if there are a necessity
Absolutely,agreed 100 %
Different varieties and Taste...
Not so trendy
They probably do too
Thanks for answering why off season blueberries were so cheap. Hard to stick to only seasonal,local when so much would go to waste as gets marked down but don't want to encourage bad practices.
Great documentary, as always. However, you never asked the consumers in Netherlands what do they think about the impact that their eating habits have on Chile. You kind of avoided the issue regarding the consumer responsibility.
As a consumer in the Netherlands I'd tell you that I look where crops are grown and try to only buy European, avocado can also be grown in Europe, however when eating out that's an unknown.
If people suddenly stopped buying avocados that would be pretty irresponsible for these regions that at least for the foreseeable future economically depend on western purchasing power.
check out at 39 minutes and 7 seconds. It is addressed by a responsible importer.
@@negatron7321
Ha! The money earned goes to people with names like Schmidt (mentioned here) and the government.
'Consumers' are responsible for overthrowing the capitalist system with global revolution. The problem is the system, not 'individual consumer choices' (thinking this way is a middle-class fantasy). You cannot outsmart capitalism with wise consumer choices.
The key for a healthier ecosystem is for the consumers to have access to a wide ranged and diverse diet with various types of plants and animals. Ideally, a human typical -meal- diet should consist of at least 20-30 types of plants(spices, herbs, whole grains, tubers, leafy greens etc) and a very small portion of meat/fish/animal products. The lack of variety in humans diet is one of the main reasons why monocropping is so prevalent nowadays. Farmers planting only corns and soybeans to raise cattles also has the same effects on the ecosystem
Even if the soil, water and climate is 100% suitable for planting avocadoes, it's a really bad idea to plant ONLY avocadoes in such a large scale, as doing so would also mean depleting the nutritions and water from the soil and kill other organisms living in that area.
This is a problem when large corporations grow crops that is not native to the place. It consume large amount of resources that is a necessity to the survival of the local community.
EASY to point out a problem ,, VERY hard to offer a solution
@@tilapiadave3234here is a solution. Stop eating avocados 3 times a week all year round if it does not grow in your own garden. The greedy companies will grow only what consumers buy so if people stop buying it they will not invest in those huge farms and things will go back to normal. The companies are only there because people are hungry for their products.
Great documentary! Would be good if you could bring out the names of the companies that buy fruits from these regions. Then good-willed consumers can try to avoid them.
You asking the real questions my fren!
Doesn't make any difference..,.. All r M N C peoples..... Very strong economically.
Even Governments will have to think twice before questioning them.
Yeah some help they are!!!! I don't like avocado anyways. I do love blueberries though, and try to find ones marked Maine or somewhere I'm familiar with at least. An they are extremely healthy.
Consumers do not give a damn, as long as they get what they want they are not going to care. If the avocados cost 10 $ they will buy.
Beef. It's what's for dinner!
In Kenya we don't need irrigation to grow avocados but selling for less than €0.10 a piece is not incentive enough.
Try to get on the European market in some way.
But we don't have large scale avocado farming here in kenya
To all the good people of Chile, the better good of the majority of citizens should always come first. Clean drinking water is a priority for human life.
Proud to say avocados & blueberries are locally grown in N.Z.😊🌻
Same with Australia, but so what?
Tropical countries*
😏
Sheep power !!!!
New zexico
an integrated approach of avocados and the water systems is important, we support the planting of indigenous trees too that improve the microenvironment for water production. As Nilecado we are pushing for Avocado production by small holder farmers largely.
As a european I can live with my avocados coming from spain & morocco, berries I prefer to grow In the garden and pick myself.
But I try to avoid buying avocados & berries that comes from across the sea.
that doesn't solve the issue, though. Spain has the same issue with lack of water due to avocado plantations
The single cost of floating across water is negligible compared to the cost of over-land refrigerated staging through multiple facilities and warehouses, to the supermarket, within the supermarket, driving it home. That's why Europeans aren't sourcing their lamb from Mongolia, but New Zealand.
Bullseye! I live in the netherlands and everytime i walk in the supermarket seeing tropical products i ask myself what an impact on non european countries.. and we don't care; as long as there is banana in the store. ..
Hopefully, DW will do a doc on the water usage of animal husbandry soon.
A wonderful documentary coverage about avocado 🥑 plantation as healthy, delicious fruits ,financial beneficial for several commercial companies & cause drying of rivers & underground water resources even cause thirsty of residents while Chileans authority supporting Avocado plantation ...climate changes around the world 🌎 made that views more bleaker in Chile 🇨🇱 ..blueberries usages booming around the world & European countries bringing financial benefit for Peru 🇵🇪 ..it was enjoyable & interested documentary shared by excellent, respected DW documentary channel
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment :)
Thank you DW for this knowledgeable documentary.
DW is the best when it comes to fair n transparent reporting
there's fruit growing on trees in Australian towns, but most ignore these fruit and instead they buy imported supermarket superfoods and think they are eating healthy. then they attend rallies for saving the earth !!
💯 buy local, the cost of transportation on the environment is brutal
even here peaople would give away local grown fruit thats just gonna rot anyway and they say no they dont want it they want the gmo import stuff.
@@nightmarerex2035fruit doesn't rot unless there are no animals. where the hell are there fruit trees and no animals ?
Thank you DW.
If avocado is a super food. The best avocado I've ever eaten found in the Philippines. It's creamy melts in your mouth
I'm from India and doing a PhD in climate science but not a vegetarian. I flow a flexitarian lifestyle which is sustainable(I believe). All my friends from Europe are vegetarians who consume greater amount of products like soya, avocado, blueberries, and you name it. I tried many times to convince them that just following a vegetarian diet by depending on products like avocados can bring an extreme impact on the climate. But sadly, very few people understand it.
They are elitists. I live in Massachusetts in the college mecca and these liberal elitists are all hypocrite frauds. Avocado's aren't even that good!! I know exactly the crowd you're referring to. Think they're above everyone and it's conservatives who are damaging the planet. They're doing their fair share, none I know walk anywhere either. They drive their gas gosling cars within feet to the damn Dunkin Donuts. Bunch of avocado snob jerks.
@anjaly menon, please watch the documentary again. Notice what was served with the avocados. 🥓
A bit like saying that vegans take so many supplements and therefore plant based diets are bad. However, the vast majority of supplements sold are consumed by people on traditional diets.
A last thing, more than 95% of soy from the Amazon is fed to cows, pigs and chickens. Vegans are not causing the deforestation of the Amazon.
Save soil campaign, have a look
There couldn't have been a better time for this documentary. I eat avocado when I am in an environment where it is locally produced but stopped eating imported avocado when I discovered the environmental footprint. Rise in nutritional diversity, prestige, including decoy of environmentalism yields more consequences than we imagine. Avocado in Chile, Blueberry in Peru, Soy in Brazil .... beyond water, the land degradation/carbon footprint to feed a rising European demand that claims to be pro-environment would eventually evolve as the greatest environmental scam.
You might not like Matthias disposition/nonchalant attitude towards water plight of other people, but like every problem else, it is a demand problem. If there is no one eating it, no one will rush to grow them.
Soy jn Brazil it's not the cause for deforestation. Cattle ranching is. 80% amazon rainforest was cut for cattle ranching, much of the rest for soy but to feed those cattles. Eat your soy in peace, it's a very good product both for health and the environment. Don't eat beef or dairy if you want to save the Amazon
@@catalina5382 I doubt you understand the implications that ungulates can digest cellulose, and all plants on Earth are mostly made of cellulose.
It's not the demand, it's government regulation (the lack of it). There is a demand for slave labour, but it's illegal. Mostly.
Refreshing station without bias. Thank you dw world
Thank you, and more people must watch this video
Whatever the cost it takes to supply the villagers with usable water, should be charged to the avocado growers until a solution can be found. If that increases the price of avocados, the company should pay for the increases. They will find a solution with that kind of 'motivation'.
I eat both avocados and blueberries on a weekly basis. The health benefits are immense. Hope a more sustainable solution can be found.
Number one cause off cancer
@@user-wh7qw6jt9c 100 % realty
Water should not be privatized ANYWHERE on the planet! This is a no-brainer!
Great video❤ I would like to express my appreciation for this video, thank you very much 🙏🎉
Thanks for watching!
There was a mistake in minute 31:16, when they said the journey starts in Valparaiso. Valparaiso is not in Peru, it is 1000s of Kilometers south of the blueberries plantations. They should have mentioned one of the many international ports in Peru.
Avacados are OK to grow in Australia but I note that most of the frozen berries are largely from South America.
In France, in stores which sells organic food ( Biocoop), we can buy frozen berries from Bulgaria. They are not so cheap neither so expansive. 10€/kg. But we don't eat them like apples which is local and seasonal fruits.
In july in France, we can buy fresh berries on farmers markets : same Price.
I’ve stopped eating avocados and rarely have any imported foods anymore. I buy the majority of my meats from a local regenerative rancher and get plant foods from my own land. Later today I plan to forage for wild strawberries on my land. They are not store friendly, they are super flavorful, tiny, and don’t keep in the fridge. Either eat them right away or dry them. In a few weeks some of the other local wild berries will start ripening. I do still get my dairy and eggs from the store, but hope to get my own chickens in the future.
Such documentaries are like creating market and demand for such countries. Avacado is not grown only in South Africa but other countries also..
Excellently researched documentary. A perfect example of what humans and cooperate greed can achieve.
We can be better as humans.
I equally see this as a challenge and business opportunity for researchers to develop better irrigation technologies and less water consuming plant varieties.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
I live in Peru but I stoped eating avocados three times a week. Eating it one time a week instead (sometimes I don’t) because I knew about the water waste in the avocado plantations, but I had no idea the blueberries are issue as well…
Here in the Philippines it's almost free and it's cheap because it's a common backyard fruit tree. It's a bit expensive in major urban areas though. And rainy season starts usually lastweek of May to February that 9 mos of rainy season.
Rodrigo got an award and in the after party his European friends served him avocado sandwiches 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪🥪....and everybody lived happily ever After.......yum yum and yum!!!!
in philippines we have a lot of rain but no avocado plantations only mangoes, bananas, dragonfruit and pineapples taste better than avocados and healthy too. Avocados in philippines are bigger and houseplant only and never cultivated like this.
Same in india
b'ful docmentary ..muchas gracias por eso ..q tan importante ..me voy a ver eso in mi tiempo libre. salud de India ...muchas amor por LATAM, Mexico - Peru - Colombia. Chao Chao.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to comment. We kindly ask our viewers to comment on our channel in English
so that we can answer questions and encourage dialogue.
Thank you and all the best,
The DW Documentary Team
@@DWDocumentary Of course -- am a English speaker, as from India -- although as this Documentary was around Latin American nations - so I posted my Comment in Spanish, assuming most of it's watchers would be from that Region & of course out of respect for them.
Also I very closely follow Latin America & am in deep love with it's culture, it's people & so I keep myself updated with their Socio - Political problems. It's very engaging as I see lot of potential in that part of the world. It is full of natural resources & great ideologies besides open lifestyle. It's a great combination which is hard to find in Africa or South East Asia from the Developing world.
But anyway, here goes my Comment in English, word to word --
b'ful docmentary ..thanks for that ..how important it is ..I am going to watch it in free time. Regards from India ...much love for LATAM, Mexico - Peru - Colombia. Chao Chao is Bye Bye
This documentary could be so much better . If it had given a lot more information about the distribution of water in Chile & Peru, the nutritional values of each fruit ( are they super foods ? ), the importance of fruit exports to the countries involved ( how it affects their tax bases etc ) the rival competitors for the blueberry & avocado markets ( their use of water ) and give the viewer some idea of the numbers of people affected and the political forces in play.
I felt the documentary aired the views of a political faction and point of view which was summed up as " we mustn't allow women fighting for human rights to receive death threats "....that is reminiscent of "grandmothers and blue berry pies ". I think there is a crucial issue here, but this documentary didn't do its job in properly exploring the matter and maybe offering a balanced critique .
They are very guilt ridden over at DW.
I think part of the problem is the way they grow the Avocados. I never see people water avocados in Africa. We have large avocado trees that basically take care of themselves. So I am a bit confused when I see the avocado farmers using so much water.
I think it’s the large volume produced all year round. In Africa we mostly eat fruits when they are in season. The westerners want to have their favourite fruits all year round. So the farmers produce all year round
Honestly I was thinking the same. I was raised on a small Caribbean island called St Lucia 🇱🇨 and we had so many avocado trees that even some hotels on the island would buy from us. We had different varieties and like you mention, they took care of themselves so i kinda dont understand what variety they are growing in the documentary
Here in Chile it doesnt rain, thats why avocados need watering. There is a draught
@@pat.l.h.2730 Yeah makes sense and I agree with you. We can't have it both ways.
I had no idea no more imported food I think just local and in season for me thank u for informing me
FYI:those big blueberry had nothing to do with the wild ones(smaller ,from Canada for example).
They gat just a fraction of the nutritional value of the wild one.
Super food is an already suspect appellation but those ones are definitely not deserving of it.
Take care.
In my childhood, we climbed a mountain and run out of drinking water. . .from there, i always know how precious water is. . .and until now, i know how to save and reuse water. . we do not appreciate or know the importance if we didn't experience how to have nothing even just a drop. . .
WATER IS LIFE...
You can add wine from Chile using water up in arid regions. It doesn't matter where they are from farmed blueberries are more tasteless than wild harvested blueberries. If Noth America and Eurasia and the labor force and could overcome the logistics they could swamp the world with wild blueberries and main concern would be having enough for wildlife.
Guys you should now buy it from Nepal. We’ve avocado farms but no local demand.
Never over tax the environment, or privatize water.
Peirce Morgan gonna love this documentary
We grow blueberries in Canada too but not in winter. What we need is information about what we’re buying, something like labels on coffee indicating that it’s fair trade.
Thanks for a great documentary. So sad to know locals have been fighting for a fundamental right, water. The only thing that will work is not to buy Chilean avocados…
Very hard to believe.. But true...... Same is the case in India . Sugar industries are making new records of manufacturing...... Sugarcane plantation increasing rapidly in less or no water areas..... While 80 % of faemers are no water for even in rainy season.
It's very sad... But it happens now a days everywhere...... 😪
In Mexico it is the same.
Perhaps I just bought the new little 99cent Avocados. I used to live on Avocado Drive in Florida. Mostly paved over now. Farmers complained for years about Mexico flooding the market for tomatoes and the Feds making it difficult to get foreign farm labor in. We once had 30K acres of Tomatoes plus Avocados and limes in South Florida. I'd guess 90% is gone .
They could make it law that large-scale avocado and blueberry growers must desalinate ocean water for their production. North of Europe could harvest the rain water from storm drains into a parallel structure to sewage, and send the rain water to South of Europe. Then we could grow our own avocados and blueberries. Funding: saving 10s of billions on regular damage from floodings. DW, would you make a documentary on the subject 'so why don't we?' on that and many other obvious matters, pls?
Vielen dank
Geoff lawton has great information on permaculture food forest and water swales .people need to learn this type of gardening even if one farm in 3 grew this style the world would be better
I've been wondering why one can get boxes and "value" bags of avocado's at very low prices. This "bargain" price of avocados has surfaced in recent years. I attended a food demonstration where we were shown how to freeze avocado's so that we could have daily portions.
This plentiful avacadoe was available and is still available in the western cape province and in the Eastern Cape Province where I have been living for the past 4 years.
Thank you for this documentary. I shall return to eating avocado's in season only.
Carbon footprint to Europe?
We get blueberries from Peru in almost all metro cities in India. Quite costly but fresh and plumply..
I only buy or pick local blueberries and when out of season I buy them locally frozen.
Water is never lost, it goes into the ground or evaporates and makes clouds and then rains back down. The issue lies in redirecting water.
If the economic development is achieved at the price of local residents and their future generations, the local government needs to think twice of the current practice and seek for change. The pollution, the water scarcity, the soil degradation all will have long last impact…
Quite a sharp topic.
Good job 🎉😂
Good Job
In my county in the Philippines, almost everyday rains.
eating regionally and seasonally is the key
This hit me hard. I think people have reached to the point where we should stop and think : Should we keep expanding our industry or slowdown to make it sustainable ?
Apathy and individualism is what makes people poorer everywhere including here in Africa
DW Documentary, please make a documentary about Syntropic Farming, Agroforestry, and Permaculture. These three methods preserve the forests and create more abundant agriculture without destroying the environment and the soil. And without spending a lot of energy as vertical farms do. It may solve the problems of Agriculture (food production) and Climate Change (plant more trees and forests) at the same time. In a nutshell, the Swiss geneticist Ernst Götsch (the creator of Syntropic Farming), in the '80s, tested his method first on a very degraded area in the northeast of Brazil (in the state of Bahia). In the beginning, he recovered the degraded areas then he started to plant many trees and do agriculture at the same time. The area that was almost totally degraded has become totally green (a big forest) again.
For some decades now he is planting high-value and quality cocoa - that has been exported to Europe - he can plant and harvest and at the same time preserve the forest. The trees serve as protection and even fertilizer for the plantation. Syntropic Farming is close to Agroforestry but they are not the same, as well as permaculture. Right now, Ernst is trying to create machines to test his techniques in large plantations. As conventional machines were not created to be suited to maintain and preserve forests and work next to many trees. He already started a project with the "Fazenda da Toca" (Burrow's farm or Den's Farm in simple translation) to test Syntropic Agriculture in big lands. But, probably the german advanced engineering and machinery innovation could help to accelerate this process a lot. Some machines are being made in small industries in the south of Brazil, but Germany has more technology and expertise to do that faster.
Note: Ernst also tried his methods in almost all types of soils. Even in the Brazilian semi-arid (Caatinga) it worked marvelously. In European soils too (Portugal, Spain). In Australian soil too. I choose Syntropic Agrofloresty because it is easier to apply in big plantations. In big lands.
Public ownership of water resources has not been established in the USA yet.
Peru grabbing water from the Amazon basin will just exacerbate the problems that are already happening that are destroying the climate. It is a bit like the plantations of palm oil in Indonesia.
This is absurd... people should really think about trends like these... think about what will happens on a grand scale
We have avocados in Nigeria but they are not irrigated. I did not know commercial avocado farming needed so much water
It is the story of every country. In India, state governments are discouraging the water intensive crops, specially if they are dependent on the ground water, and give subsidies to grow other crops which are profitable too. We promote crops like apple, rice & sugarcane only in high rainfall or high surface water areas. Also, like India connecting every household with tap water could be a solution.
This is a Very important story that needs to be shared with the millennials that are driving this & other fad markets that are Seriously Harming People & the Planet!!!!!
Meat takes much more water to make and it's harming the environment so much more than avocado. It actually one of the leading cause of water consumption and the leading cause of deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil erosion methane and no2 emissions. If you eat meat or dairy, you do far more damage to the environment than 'avocado eating millennials'
Gen Z
It's encouraging to witness the sustainable and socially responsible management of agriculture in Peru. By utilizing the desert, there's no need to clear land and the reduced presence of pests means fewer chemicals are used. Additionally, by redirecting water from the Amazon basin, there's a safeguard against depriving people who depend on it. Given that the Amazon basin holds over 20% of the world's fresh water, it's reassuring that there's enough for everyone.
Uhmm. No. Deserts aren't barren, they are complex ecosystems with endangered species. This is still land clearing. Redirecting water always comes at an environmental cost, that water has a purpose where it was and pumping it has huge carbon emissions. In addition, what happens to the massive plastic waste from growing the blueberries in bags?
@@siobhanvidaashmole9009 You find out how the desserts are in Peru. However, using deserts instead of forests if the best option for agriculture, it has the lowest impact on the environment. In regard to water, the amazon basin has more than enough water to provide for agriculture, the area where the water comes from, floods every year and most of that water ends up in the Atlantic. Every human activity affects the environment, the key is to minimize its impact.
I've been trying to grow my own avocado trees (south Africa) ad I know how expensive they are... But this documentary is so sad... How can they not have humanity come first. Then I would rather not eat avocado or blueberries bought in a shop not knowing where they come from
If you're from SA... just buy them when they are in season (avo is March to Nov, Blueberry is July to Feb). In general, our water management is fair and well managed... Except for the current state caused by the last few decades of neglect.
They should also talk more about the responsible producers in South America. There's a lot of sustainable techniques used there. These should be prioritized by European markets instead of the predatory ones, since Europeans are so dependable of importing food from other places. The producers from south america who are sustainable need to be prioritized by consumers instead of stigmatizing the continent. Which is absolute ignorance.
Has DW done the avocado 🥑 report from Mexico? It seems they are the major producers
Almost the same thing happens. Even here in Mexico, avocado is a luxury for most people because it is super expensive. Since most of the crops are exported to Europe or the USA, and what is left over or bad crops stay here for the Mexicans and still at ridiculously high prices, because speculative middlemen always inflate prices.
If stopped exporting the food grown in Mexico, there would be abundance and at low prices for Mexicans.
The problem isn’t the fruits but rather the fact that the whole world is buying it, instead of buying local superfoods 🤷♂️
Don't worry about things, god bless your place
The few times I requested avocados on my sandwich appeared as a green, processed goo. The only health benefit was green diarrhea.
Grow only in appropriate locations, and allow a vast diversity of supply localities. Stop monopolies noose around our locals throats.
We should farm native plants and trees fruits and vegetables to reduce water use pesticides and basically never use fertilizers just poop.
Good luck starving. Without modern pesticides and artificial fertilizer we would not be able to feed the world. Genetically modifying plants so that they areresistant and need no pesticides would help tough. It's just that anti GMO peeps will not stand for it
They should but they will never do that, there is no money in that way of farming. The greed always wins!!
That's exactly why i believe that we as the human species are one for It, we have very lil time left or we will be going the way of the dodo or back to the caves to Live, this planet cant cope with what de are doing to it for a piece of (paper) money.....
Human stupidity & greed is killing the planet so se are commiting suicide.
Also that poop thingy, you should try it in your backyard!!!! 🤔
I love avocados too, and they have become an integral part of my diet. Small Hass Avocados are 50 cents a piece at Wal Mart. If I were willing to pay 60 cents, a 20% increase, would that help the situation? Couldn't that help with desalination?
No, that will only make richer to the intermediaries or a few wealthy farmers who export directly, like the Schmidts shown in the video, who speculate with food and all resources in general. That extra money will not go to the poorer farmers, nor to those affected by the crops, nor or projects of any kind.
They say that save water, but is a lie, first they take care of their crops and businesses and later, nothing else matters.
dude, don't forget your quinoa, chia seeds and other "integral parts of your super mega healthy lifestyle diet". You are part of the problem. But hey, throwing some money at the problem seems reasonable as long as those avocado toasts are coming.
No. Just donate your own money
only thing you could do would be get rich cut out the middle man and fly a private jet with all the extra money your willing to pay dirrectly to the farmers instead of the middle man that will eat it all up.
No, it wouldn’t help. All increasing the price does is increase the profits, not for farmers, but for Big Ag.
It is called “capitalism” for a reason: humans aren’t worth a nickel. If you can increase profit by a nickel per life destroyed, capitalism demands that you take that evil path.
I saw a documentary on this matter 4 or 3 years ago. I had no clue what was going on in South America. Since then I do no buy any more avocados from South America, same concerning blueberries. Supermarkets are full of blueberries from Peru even in the summer when we have our local Blueberry season. Avocados can be also bought from Spain, Israel and even Italy recently(not on a large scale). People simply don't know or are not interested in where the food they buy is coming from. We need more information campaigns.European consumers should also consume more consciously. They should understand that it is not normal to consume avocados and blueberries every day 12 month a year.