SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It's a headline that shook guacamole and avocado-toast lovers across the country: "We'll run out of avocados in 3 weeks if President Trump closes the border."
Following the President's threat to close down the U.S.-Mexico border, an avocado grower made that audacious claim.
But is it actually accurate? Or is it some kind of cruel April Fool's joke?
Let's VERIFY.
The uproar all started from a Reuters article that quoted Steven Barnard, the head of the largest distributor and grower of avocados in the world. He's the one who said that if the President does go through with shutting down the border, and all imports from Mexico are stopped, we would run out of avocados.
Sources: To understand all of this we looked towards the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
According to these agencies, Mexico supplies 44 percent of the imported produce to the U.S. and 48 percent of the world's avocados. Knowing that, it's clear that the border closing would certainly disrupt imports. We may notice prices rising, and not just on avocados but on things like limes, pineapples, cucumbers, asparagus and berries.
"Well, you won't get fresh limes from Mexico anymore, so when you get your margarita you won't have a fresh lime on it," Bob Harrington, who is head of the largest wholesale supplier in San Diego, told our sister-station.
But back to the avocados. Are we going to be able to make guac?
The thing is: Mexico is not the only place we get avocados. We do get most of our avocados from our neighbors below the border, but they also come from California, Florida, Peru, Chile and Spain. The California crop is now just appearing in stores.
So, with that, we can VERIFY: While avocado imports will likely get disrupted, it's very unlikely we would completely run out all together.
Side note, though: The California Avocado Commission has already predicted a pretty small crop this year. That, combined with a border closure, could definitely mean the price of the fruit goes way, way up.
So prepare yourself — and get your avocado toast fix while you can! (I know we will.)
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