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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@Tenavatuokiolast yearThe forests in finland are full of natural blueberries and yet they import cultivated blueberries from peru - 14 0 kilometres away. Its simply madness. 612
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@sulthannext4470last yearAlmost 5 years ago i saw the documentary about avacado in this channel and i remember rodrigo mundaca. Now he is the governor of thathappy for him. Keep fight for the water. 21
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@avocadokenyalast yearAs 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. ...Expand90
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@bugsalmudafar2973last yearFor 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. 122
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@dontcallmebaby6927last yearThis 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. 66
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@ArghMateylast yearThankful for documentaries like these to keep us informed on what' s going on in other countries < 3. 193
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@RaduManulast yearI 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! 14
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@oscarkelly3378last yearLiterally trade is something that people starts to communicate, trade is something people exchange culture and values. 94
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@TheDoorsHK21last yearThank 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. ...Expand6
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@grilledmelast yearWe can live without those super fruits right? But not without water. 31
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@ashdgeelast yearI love avocados and they 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. 113
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@gostodemaisdaroca4052last yearIt' s funny how things are. Growing up in brazil, we had avocados, mangos, and citrus as " poor people fruits" because they would grow anywhere. ...Expand10
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@pacificislander8503last yearWater is life and it should not be privatize. 58
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@10actuallast yearWater 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. ...Expand39
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@angelawildman122last yearSuperfoods are really overrated. There are already plenty of local, seasonal superfoods in every part of the world; why not eat those? 86
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@perryjackson6812last yearThank 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 . ...Expand15
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@cherylcarlson3315last yearThanks 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. 19
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@andreamarton3648last yearEating local seasonal food is so much more important for the environment than going vegan. 105
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@lmcognitio2049last yearYes, it is important to raise awareness in europe (and everywhere) to reduce the environmental impact. These are healthy and delicious fruits, avocados. ...Expand6
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@AnirbanDas21989last yearGreat 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. 96
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@carbonwarriorlast yearGreat documentary, as always. However, you never asked the consumers in netherlands what do they think about the impact that their eating habits have on. ...Expand97
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@shazzoramalast yearI 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. ...Expand11
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@subliminalfalllenangel2108last yearThe 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,mealdiet should consist of at least 20-30 types of plants(spices, herbs, whole grains, tubers, leafy greens etc) and a very small portion ofproducts. 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. ...Expand6
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@bobpineapplesafrica170last yearAn integrated approach of avocados and the water systems is important, we support the planting of indigenous trees too that improve the for water production. As nilecado we are pushing for avocado production by small holder farmers largely. ...Expand5
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@abcde__hii638310 months agoGreat video i would like to express my appreciation for this video, thank you very much. 1
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@mohammedsaysrashid3587last yearA wonderful documentary coverage about avocado plantation as healthy, delicious fruits, financial beneficial for several commercial companies & ca. ...Expand3
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@almalyncabansag4442last yearThis 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. 6
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@ecofriend9310 months agoHopefully, dw will do a doc on the water usage of animal husbandry soon.
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@graemelee5701last yearTo 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. 6
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@benjaminechorlast yearExcellently researched documentary. A perfect example of what humans and cooperate greed can achieve. we can be better as humans. i equally. ...Expand2
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@arbaz79last yearThank you dw for this knowledgeable documentary.
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@AlexLopez-yk8xo8 months agoIf avocado is a super food. The best avocado i' ve ever eaten found in the philippines. It' s creamy melts in your mouth.
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@manasseskamau5327last yearIn kenya we don' t need irrigation to grow avocados but selling for less than 0. 10 a piece is not incentive enough. 4
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@nishmamanandhar12258 months agoDw is the best when it comes to fair n transparent reporting.
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@delawaresurf5422last yearRefreshing station without bias. Thank you dw world.
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@katecarlisle8383last yearProud to say avocados & blueberries are locally grown in n. Z. 11
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@Gate11aulast yearI had no idea no more imported food i think just local and in season for me thank u for informing me. 2
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@helenarakel396410 months agoI live in peru but i stoped eating avocados three times a week. Eating it one time a week instead (sometimes i dont) because i knew about the water w id="hidden24"aste in the avocado plantations, but i had no idea the blueberries are issue as well. ...Expand1
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@argao60219 months agoHere 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. ...Expand1
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@jimmybindralast yearB' 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.
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@redsteedproperties240510 months agoIve 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 f . ...Expand
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@maylanjow8126last yearThank you, and more people must watch this video.
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@dorkstain5455last yearAvacados are ok to grow in australia but i note that most of the frozen berries are largely from south america. 3
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@polishtheday9 months agoWe grow blueberries in canada too but not in winter. What we need is information about what were buying, something like labels on coffee indicating that its fair trade.
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@claire2470last yearIn 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 id="hidden29" 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. ...Expand
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@zuzanazuscinova5209last yearI eat both avocados and blueberries on a weekly basis. The health benefits are immense. Hope a more sustainable solution can be found. 9
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@pkumar1811 months agoSuch documentaries are like creating market and demand for such countries. Avacado is not grown only in south africa but other countries also.
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@lavonageorge72749 months agoI' ve been wondering why one can get boxes andbags of avocado' s at very low prices. Thisprice of avocados 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. ...Expand
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@sernanlloren843210 months agoPeirce morgan gonna love this documentary.
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@SA-ks9vz10 months agoI only buy or pick local blueberries and when out of season i buy them locally frozen. 1
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@deerichardzlast yearWhatever 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. ...Expand4
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@mbachoirlast yearThere was a mistake in minute , 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. .....Expand
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@shreeyasingh8948last yearGuys you should now buy it from nepal. Weve avocado farms but no local demand. 1
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@OPGamer-wp1silast yearVery hard to believe. But true. Same is the case in india. Sugar industries are making new records ofsugarcane 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. ...Expand3
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@Cerceifylast yearPerhaps 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. ...Expand1
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@richardbird5697last yearGeoff 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. 1
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@carlsmith8815last yearThis documentary could be so much better. If it had given a lot more information about the distribution of water in chile & peru, the nutritional id="hidden36" 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 ofand 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. ...Expand8
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@dovepiranha6543last yearBullseye! I live in the netherlands and everytime i walk in the supermarket seeing tropical products i ask myself what an impact non european countries. And we don' t care; as long as there is banana in the store. 8
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@SilverMiraii8 months agoWater is never lost, it goes into the ground or evaporates and makes clouds and then rains back down. The issue lies in redirecting water.
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@tanmaypatra9455last yearCarbon footprint to europe? we get blueberries from peru in almost all metro cities in india. Quite costly but fresh and plumply. 1
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@eatshmoogle357310 months agoDo one on alfalfa farming in the arizona desert.
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@0warami_7oolast yearThere' 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! 6
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@Daniel-fl5oqlast yearQuite a sharp topic. good job.
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@FeyTheBin10 months agoMakes me wonder of the prospect of solving it by introducing an avocado blight.
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@archsword2446last yearIn philippines we have a lot of rain but no avocado plantations only mangoes, bananas, dragonfruit and pineapples taste better than avocados and healthy. ...Expand3
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@thinklocallylast yearIn my county in the philippines, almost everyday rains.
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@kendallkahl8725last yearYou 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 . ...Expand1
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@peshangbakr2442last yearEating regionally and seasonally is the key.
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@minakokataoka711210 months agoThanks 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. 1
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@skylineXpertlast yearAs 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. 14
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@alipm4941last yearIt' s so informative and fantastic documentary, deeply appreciated the efforts! 1
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@fmt0htm8 months agoThis 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?
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@A-m-a-l-ilast yearThere 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 you might not like matthiasattitude 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. ...Expand24
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@samlatoonilast yearRodrigo got an award and in the after party his european friends served him avocado sandwiches. And everybody lived happily everand yum! 2
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@___beyondhorizon4664last yearHas dw done the avocado report from mexico? It seems they are the major producers. 1
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@mariacallas9962last yearFyi: 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 super food is an already suspect appellation but those ones are definitely not deserving of it. take care. ...Expand2
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@nlptrader8320last yearDw documentary, please make a documentary about syntropic farming, agroforestry, and permaculture. These three methods preserve the forests and create 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. ...Expand
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@BamBamSrlast yearWater should not be privatized anywhere on the planet! This is a no-brainer! 2
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@Crime-Politicslast yearThey could make it law that large-scale avocado and blueberry growers must desalinate ocean water for their production. North of europe could harvest the. ...Expand2
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@edmondpintu5622last yearDon' t worry about things, god bless your place.
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@RA-ms3je11 months agoWe have avocados in nigeria but they are not irrigated. I did not know commercial avocado farming needed so much water.
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@estherzhu8413last yearIf the economic development is achieved at the price of local residents and their future generations, the local government needs to think twice of the. ...Expand1
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@erickane7093last yearNever over tax the environment, or privatize water. 1
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@tinkerbella743310 months agoWe should always focus on where which fruits grow with less unnatural intervention like extensive watering.
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@ofwdad5893last yearWe in the philippines are blessed with water all year we have 24 typhoons that brings a lot of water.
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@Isawwhatyoudidlast yearI 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. ...Expand1
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@finbarryan3590last yearHow much water is lost from the basins through evaporation? Floating solar reduces evaporation by 75% with a 10% to 15%increase in electric production. Part of the solution?
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@bl4ckb3lllast yearIn indonesia thousand of thousand new avocado farmers just open avocado orchard, the land mass could be hundreds of thousand hectare.
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@eastjavagreenschool1814last yearAwesomeit always pro vs contra for avocado, the story in chile would be different if there are philanthropic responsibility for avocado If water supy is the problem why not to build a water dam to supply household and avocado farm? Why not to improve ecosystem if there are good profit' s?. ...Expand
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@TheMalcolmPowderlast yearPeru 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. 1
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@anshul.mlast yearIt is the story of every country. In india, state governments are discouraging the water intensive crops, specially if they are dependent on the ground. ...Expand
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@markcampbell757710 months agoIf chlorinated water treatment is used then coal filters have to be used before showering or drinking the water.
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@markcampbell757710 months agoPublic ownership of water resources has not been established in the usa yet.
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@mbachoirlast yearIt' s encouraging to witness the sustainable and socially responsible management of agriculture in peru. By utilizing the desert, there' s no need. ...Expand3
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@user-qq3bl6py3g8 months agoDepends on were you grow them and how they grow. Were i am from blueberrys grow like weeds.
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@Neli-bs4mqlast yearYes. The fact that there are this crazies over new foods and suddenly the majority start to eat them sure causesproblems. The norm is to eat a variety of foods, and not only a few especially if those have to be imported regularly. ...Expand
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@frankcuritana815911 months agoThese farmers need to learn a better management by using the drip system for their avocados and other plants.
Related videos for Superfoods and the environment - Avocados and blueberries from South America | DW Documentary:
do i understand that properly? They' re going to divert water from the largest natural rainforest . ...Expand 15
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. ...Expand 6
we can be better as humans.
i equally . ...Expand 2
water is life. ...Expand
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. ...Expand
it' s very sad. But it happens now a days. ...Expand 3
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 ofand 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. ...Expand 8
we get blueberries from peru in almost all metro cities in india. Quite costly but fresh and plumply. 1
good job.
but i try to avoid buying avocados & berries that comes from across the sea. 14
they gat just a fraction of the nutritional value super food is an already suspect appellation but those ones are definitely not deserving of it.
take care. ...Expand 2
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. ...Expand