Your guacamole may be helping Mexican cartels while US farmers pay the price
I was born and raised in California, where avocados weren’t just another item on the grocery list, they were a staple of my everyday diet. Today, not much has changed. My family loves avocados, my daughter asks for them constantly, and as someone who loves to cook, I incorporate them into just about every recipe I can.
But as a mom who believes deeply in the Make America Healthy Again movement, I’ve started thinking differently about the food I put on my family’s table.
MAHA has encouraged millions of Americans to look more closely at ingredient labels, additives and how our food is produced. But I believe the conversation should go one step further: Where does our food come from? Who grows it? Are our agricultural supply chains safe and transparent? And are our purchases supporting American farmers?
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That is why I choose California avocados whenever I can.
California is home to nearly 3,000 avocado growers who contribute roughly $1.5 billion to the state’s economy each year while supporting thousands of American jobs. Many are family farmers who have spent generations producing one of America’s favorite foods.
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Yet they are increasingly competing against a massive influx of Mexican avocados produced under dramatically different economic and security conditions.
Mexico shipped 670,026 metric tons of avocados into the United States during the first half of 2026 alone, a 34% increase from the same period last year.
But the sheer volume of imports is only part of the story.
Mexico’s largest avocado-producing region recently resumed shipments to the United States after a security crisis forced U.S. agricultural operations to stop. Mexico responded by deploying more than 1,500 soldiers and National Guard personnel to protect orchards, packinghouses, inspectors, trucks and supply routes.
Consider how extraordinary that is.
It required a military security operation to ensure avocados could safely make their way through the supply chain to American consumers.
This was reportedly the third suspension of U.S. inspection activities in Michoacán in recent years. The state remains under the U.S. government’s highest travel advisory — Level 4, "Do Not Travel" — amid cartel violence, kidnapping and organized crime.
And that brings us to the part of this story every American should know.
Cartels operating in Michoacán have been accused of extorting avocado growers and other agricultural businesses. One producer told The Associated Press that he pays an extortion fee on every kilogram he exports, costing him more than $5,000 a day.
Follow that money to its logical conclusion.
When American consumers purchase avocados produced by growers being extorted based on the amount of fruit they export, some portion of the economic activity generated by our purchases can ultimately benefit Mexican criminal organizations.
These are the same types of criminal organizations President Donald Trump has made a priority of confronting.
No one should pretend this is simply about guacamole.
It is about national security, food security and whether America should become increasingly dependent on agricultural supply chains operating in regions where organized crime wields extraordinary influence.
It is also about protecting American agriculture.
California growers have raised serious concerns about changes to the inspection system for Mexican avocados. In late 2024, the Biden administration changed a longstanding inspection program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, that had relied on American inspectors in Mexican avocado orchards.
The changes followed serious security incidents involving American agricultural personnel.
California growers warned that weakening direct U.S. oversight could leave the system more vulnerable and increase the possibility that fruit from uncertified orchards could enter the export supply chain.
Those concerns deserve attention.
More than 150 pest interceptions have since reportedly been recorded at Mexican packing facilities following changes to U.S. inspection protocols. The threat posed by agricultural pests is not trivial. If destructive pests become established in California, the consequences could be devastating for growers who have spent generations building their farms.
We should not wait until an invasive pest damages an American agricultural industry to decide that rigorous inspections were important.
President Trump has made America First, Make America Healthy Again and confronting the cartels defining priorities of his administration. The challenges surrounding Mexican avocado imports provide an opportunity to advance all three.
This isn’t about banning Mexican avocados or telling Americans they can never enjoy guacamole outside California’s growing season. It is about establishing a simple principle: Access to the American market should come with American standards, and American farmers should take priority.
If foreign producers want access to American consumers, we should be confident their products are properly inspected, traceable and safe — and that the system governing their production is not being compromised by criminal organizations.
At the same time, we should prioritize the extraordinary farmers producing avocados right here at home.
California growers operate under American labor, environmental, food-safety and regulatory standards. They employ American workers, support American communities, pay American taxes and contribute to our domestic food security.
They deserve a fair playing field.
The Make America Healthy Again movement is about much more than removing artificial dyes or reading ingredient labels. It is about rebuilding a food system based on transparency, accountability, quality and trust.
Healthy food starts with healthy farms. And a healthy country needs secure food supply chains.
As Americans, we should be proud to support the men and women who grow our food here at home. Our farmers work long hours, navigate unpredictable weather, absorb rising costs and comply with some of the toughest standards in the world to feed this country.
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When we have the opportunity to support them, we should.
For my family, that means choosing California avocados whenever they are in season. But for Washington, it should mean something bigger: protecting American agriculture, demanding integrity from foreign supply chains and making sure our enormous consumer market works for American families, not foreign cartels.
America First shouldn’t stop at the border; it should extend all the way to the food we put on our tables.