Avocados are being dumped in record numbers, amid the most severe food price inflation in years.
However, farmers have defended the practice, arguing that it is a necessary evil that prevents them from going into the red.
Jan De Lai, a resident of Atherton in far northern Queensland, discovered an enormous green heap of apparently fine fruit rotting.
While speaking to 7NEWS she said, “Two trucks came in and just dumped big mounds of avocados. And I’d noticed that there’s also been a lot dumped there previously.”
“It just seemed like there were tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of avocados going to waste.
“The mounds were huge – a lot higher than myself.
Demand fell during COVID-19 curfews, when restaurants closed, while the “misery” caused by this year’s Queensland and New South Wales floods has likewise disrupted the market, according to Kochi.
Another cause, he explains, is that farmers planted more trees in the previous decade as avocados became popular – and they’re now producing fruit.
“Those trees are currently coming into production – and in a big way,” he told 7NEWS.