Why People Risk Their Lives To Harvest Açaí

Did you know that harvesting acai berries in Brazil is a really dangerous job? Workers have to climb thin palm trees deep in the Amazon rainforest to get them. Even though these berries are really popular in the U.S. and are called "superfoods," they can be really expensive. One bowl of acai can cost up to 15 dollars! But even though acai is really popular, small farms in Brazil haven't been able to make a lot of money from it. Most acai in Brazil is still harvested by families on small farms, but big plantations are starting to take over. This is putting pressure on families like Lucas Nogueiras and their way of life that has been around for generations.

"Hey, have you heard about this cool fruit from the Amazon? It's super popular right now, but have you ever wondered how it got so famous? And what about the people who have been picking it for years? What's it like for them? Let's find out!"

We met a guy named Lucas after the 2021 harvest. Even though most of the berries were gone, there were still some left on a few trees. Lucas and his family own a farm that's about 70 miles away from Balang, which is the capital of the state of Para. This state grows more than 90% of the acai produced in Brazil! Crazy, right? The only tool they use to climb the trees is a single piece of rope called a peconia. Back in the day, they used to make these ropes out of leaves. Nowadays, Lucas's son, Louise Fernando, is the one who climbs the trees. But there's a problem - the trunks of the trees are so thin that climbers have to be lightweight. So, what should we do?

When they're up high, they swing from the trees to get to lots of bunches of fruit. But coming back down can be super risky, especially if they're holding a big knife and a bunch of branches. If they drop the branches, it could hurt the fruit and make it harder to sell. And even after they climb down, there are still more dangers to watch out for. It's kind of like if I said "Chanda" and "NASA" and "Zarya Cobra."

Lucas and his family picked 53 baskets of acai berries in 2021. They sold them for about $950, which is not a lot of money. They only made about 20 cents for every pound of berries they sold. But, if you turn those berries into sorbet, you can sell it for $7 or more per pound in the US. The problem is that acai berries go bad really quickly, so Lucas has to sell them fast. This means he doesn't have much power to negotiate with buyers. It's a race against time to sell the berries before they go bad, so markets are always busy.

Hey there! Did you know that the price of acai baskets changes every day? It all depends on how many people want to buy them. Most of the acai that is made in Brazil stays in Brazil, but they have been exporting more and more of it over the years. In fact, the amount of acai they export has grown by 14,000 between 2011 and 2020! The acai is taken to processing facilities, like North Acai, where they turn 22 tons of fruit into frozen pulp every day. This is the kind of acai that most people know about. But did you know that this is also when the price of acai goes up the most? In fact, the price can go up by 177%!

Did you know that Brazil exports a lot of acai berries to the United States? Yup, over 70% of it! And get this, the whole world loves acai so much that by 2025, the market for it is expected to be worth almost 2.1 billion dollars! That's a lot of money!

Acai became really popular in Brazil in the 1980s when people started using it as part of their workout routine in Rio and Sao Paulo. It even showed up in a popular soap opera that took place at a gym! People liked it because it had a lot of calories, which was good for before or after exercising, and it had antioxidants which made it seem like a superfood that could solve all sorts of health problems. But nutritionists say that's not really true. Acai is just one food and it can't do everything. Even though Americans love making acai bowls with fruit, granola, and honey, it's not the same as how indigenous people in the Amazon have been eating it for centuries. They eat it fresh with their meals and it's still a staple food in their diet. Lucas, who is now 48, has been climbing acai trees since he was 12!

Hey, did you know that acai has been in the news lately? Some people are saying that kids are working in the acai industry, but farmers like Lucas say that it's always been that way. In fact, it's normal for everyone in the family to help out and learn how to grow and harvest acai. So, don't worry too much about it!

Lucas and 55 other families own a special type of community called a kilombo. These communities were started a long time ago by enslaved Africans and Afro-descendants who ran away into the jungle to survive. They learned how to grow and process native foods like acai from indigenous people. There are almost 6,000 kilombo communities in Brazil, but sadly, about 75% of them still live in extreme poverty.

Lucas grows acai trees with other plants and trees that are from the same place. But, some people are starting to grow only acai trees in really big areas. This is called a monoculture plantation. They do this because they can get more fruit. Since 2006, the amount of land used for these big plantations has gotten three times bigger!

The big plantations are usually not near places where acai trees grow naturally. This means that the people who own the big plantations have to give their trees water. But, farmers like Lucas don't have to do that. They just wait for the river to flood and then their trees

Some farmers are starting to only grow acai trees instead of other plants? This might not be good in the future because it could cause problems. Some smart people are worried that as more and more people start to like acai, the special ways of life in the Amazon rainforest might disappear. Lucas and his friends really care about these traditions and want to keep them alive.