Growers Group Sues to Ban Mexican Avocados in California

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published April 24, 2007 at 11:25 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The California Avocado Commission is suing to keep Mexican avocados out of the state. San Diego County grows more of the fruit than any other county in the United States. Local growers say Mexican avo

The California Avocado Commission is suing to keep Mexican avocados out of the state. San Diego County grows more of the fruit than any other county in the United States. Local growers say Mexican avocados carry harmful pests that could destroy their crops. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Mexican avocados were banned in California for nearly a century. The U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to lift the ban last February after completing a scientific study.

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But the state avocado commission wants the USDA to reverse that decision. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles says state agriculture inspectors found armored scale insects in recent shipments from Mexico.

Growers say the bugs damage avocados and can kill their plants. Bob Lucy owns Del Rey Avocado in Fallbrook.

Lucy : And if there is a problem with this pest then the Mexican growers need to figure out a way how to eradicate it or decide that fruit should not come into California. Because if it is a threat, it's a problem for California farmers, all agriculture.

The avocado commission's lawsuit says the USDA study of the pests was flawed. The commission wants the Mexican avocados banned from California until a new study is completed. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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