End of the avocado: why chefs are ditching the unsustainable fruit

Give peas a chance - as well as pistachios, fava beans and pumpkin seed paste. These are just some of the ingredients being used to replace one of the world's most popular fruits

On the one hand, they are deliciously creamy, versatile and gloriously Instagrammable. On the other, they have an enormous carbon footprint, require 320 litres of water each to grow and are in such global demand they are becoming unaffordable for people indigenous to the areas they are grown in", according to Thomasina Miers, the co-founder of the Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca.

For some time, the chef has struggled to balance the devastating environmental impact of avocado production with her customers' appetite for guacamole. Now, she thinks she has found the answer: a vibrant, green guacamole-inspired dip, made from fava beans, green chilli, lime and coriander.