FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 7, 2024 – Washington, D.C. – Natural Customers Affiliation and Richman Regulation & Coverage filed a grievance in opposition to Mission Produce on November 6, 2024, within the District of Columbia Superior Courtroom. The grievance alleges that Mission Produce, in violation of the District of Columbia Client Safety Procedures Act, makes use of misleading “sustainability” claims to market its avocados, stating that they “reduce its international footprint, promote moral provide chains, and domesticate a greater future for generations to come back.” Mission Produce allegedly misleads shoppers by claiming that its “sustainable crop manufacturing” makes use of “water assets successfully and effectively” to “forestall water waste and assist preserve water for future generations,” when, in actuality, Mission sources its avocados from orchards put in on deforested land and makes use of practices which are environmentally damaging, particularly contributing to deforestation, local weather change, pure habitat and biodiversity loss, and excessive water shortage for native communities. 

Mission Produce additionally claims to stick to a three-pillared “sustainability” framework, marketed as ”From Individuals to Product to Planet.” It advertises its “Environmental Stewardship,” its “40 Years of Dedication to a Extra Sustainable Future,” and its apply of “rising high-quality avocados sustainably.”

Regardless of these assurances, Mexican authorities transport information allegedly present that in 2022 Mission Produce sourced 68,830 kilograms of avocados from 4 orchards put in on deforested land in Michoacán after 2015. The grievance accommodates before-and-after pictures of that land.

Mexican regulation requires a federal allow to transform forests to agricultural makes use of. Authorities information point out that no such permits have been issued within the Mexican state of Michoacán for not less than twenty years. On this regard, Mission’s avocado sourcing, along with being unsustainable, seems to be unlawful.

Avocado orchards accounted for about one-fifth of the deforestation in Michoacán and the neighboring state of Jalisco between 2001 and 2017. This unlawful deforestation is impacting the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Pine-Oak Forests ecoregion. Most well-known for being the winter nesting grounds of the monarch butterfly, it is usually residence to uncommon birds, amphibians and reptiles, in addition to 50 % of Mexico’s distinctive mammal species.

In February of this 12 months, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar expressed concern concerning the proliferation of avocado orchards on illegally deforested land throughout a go to to Michoacán, stating that Mexican avocado exporters “shouldn’t have the chance to promote these avocados to america market.”

Whether or not authorized or unlawful, the conversion of pure forests to avocado plantations for Mission Produce allegedly releases greenhouse gasses, reduces carbon storage, threatens biodiversity and drains aquifers. By advertising its avocado enterprise for example of “environmental stewardship,” shoppers could also be misled concerning the firm’s precise environmental practices.

Natural Customers Affiliation is combating to finish this kind of misleading advertising directed at D.C. shoppers. Natural Customers Affiliation is represented by Richman Regulation & Coverage.

To view the grievance, observe this hyperlink.

ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION

Natural Customers Affiliation is a nationwide nonprofit 501(c)(3) advocacy group primarily based in Washington, DC, and Finland, MN. OCA addresses essential points round meals security, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, kids’s well being, company accountability, Honest Commerce and environmental sustainability. OCA reaches greater than two million individuals every week through electronic mail and social media.

ABOUT RICHMAN LAW & POLICY

Richman Regulation & Coverage is the main regulation agency representing shoppers and nonprofit organizations in authorized advocacy difficult misleading advertising claims concerning the “greenwashing” and “humanewashing” of animal merchandise. Utilizing shopper safety statutes and different authorized instruments, Richman Regulation & Coverage has efficiently introduced quite a few actions in opposition to firms and operations that deceive shoppers about their alleged sustainability and animal care practices.

Media Contact: 

Alexis Baden-Mayer

[email protected] 

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