July Newsletter

California Avocado Farmers are Under Assault

No, not from drones or missiles. Just excessive unrelenting waves of unregulated foreign avocado imports and unwise domestic policies and governance by our industry representatives, which are placing the California avocado growers at risk of extinction.

Not that many years ago, the California avocado farmland consisted of 85,000 producing acres that supplied 100% of the US market for healthy avocados. Now the producing acreage in California Avocado Industry is less than 45,000 acres, and only supplies 10% of the US market, (now >2 billion #/yr, 55% of the global consumption!) Conversely, US avocado exports to foreign producers are 0%.

Besides the loss of business and economic benefits derived from a "green business" in the US, the environment has been deprived of over 4 million carbon absorbing and oxygen producing trees due to domestic acreage contraction and the appropriation of virgin forests in Mexico.

How did this come about? What can we do to protect our community?

The import competition from Mexico is CONFLICT FRUIT, produced and shipped to the American consumer via a pipeline rife with trade agreement violations, corruption, ecological devastation, appropriation by cartel and organized crime syndicates with control over picking, packing and shipping maintained through extortion, intimidation, violence, bribery, and uninvestigated subsidies. And the American avocado import industry has been made complicit in the dominance of this foreign competition, yielding to the temptation of valuing profits over ethical and sustainable agriculture and business practices.

The current US avocado import/export trade policies obviously need to be adjusted and re-balanced. We need to combat the trends that are putting domestic growers at increasing risk of being forced out of business by unfair, unregulated, and corrupted import practices.

Bottom line: The California Avocado Commission, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Hass Avocado Board and the US commerce and trade departments and current environmental protection agencies, have utterly failed to address the above issues which present an existential threat to our domestic industry. We need to make it clear that there are critical issues that we need help in addressing. The message must get out to our state oversight bodies, as well as those elected officials committed to ensuring the safe, healthy, sustainable, ethical AND LEGAL production of foods for purchase and consumption, at both state and federal levels of governance.

The American Avocado Farmers (AAF) is a volunteer group of growers from all California growing districts who hope to provide a forum in which to share credible, factual and relevant information, and help focus our community’s --and our consumers’ -- attention on the issues that should matter to all of us interested in preserving US food safety, sustainable and ethical farming practices, and a thriving California avocado-growing economy. We are currently involved in several actions to shine a light on the conditions of our industry and are hoping for real change in ability to counter the assaults we are currently experiencing.

All of the points made here are discussed in more detail, with sources and references, in the material published on our website: https://americanavocados.org

A recent front-page article concerning our issues was recently published in the Los Angeles Times, which can be accessed online: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-30/california-avocado-farmers-mexico

You are invited to get informed by visiting the website, check out the material on it, and, if interested, sign on to become a member. Be sure to tell us what you do and whether you are a CAC member. There is no cost or obligation. And, of course, you can opt out at any time from this newsletter.

What would be ideal is that you find our information and updating on events useful, that you actively participate with fellow growers on the website, or in email correspondence with us. Knowing we are reaching folks who can vote to help our leaders hear our message is a critical part of a successful survival strategy for all avocado producers. Make your elected representatives aware of your concerns by mail, email and phone. In subsequent newsletters we will include suggested templates for these communications. Your voice can make a difference.

Our primary goal is to preserve a healthy US avocado agriculture industry for existing and future generations. Help us to do so.

The American Avocado Farmers