Mezcal Mania Hits the US: Environmental Toll Rises in Mexico

In the small town of San Pedro Totolapam in Oaxaca, Mexico, a single light bulb once lit up the mezcal distillery run by the family of Gladys Sánchez Garnica. Thirty years ago, the distillery operated through the night, producing the distinctively smoky mezcal as Garnica and her siblings listened to their parents’ tales, with locals arriving on horseback to sample the spirit. “We learned the right time to harvest agave, how to nurture the soil, and the sustainable yield we could expect from the forest,” recounted 33-year-old Garnica, now part of a women-led distillery in a community heavily reliant on mezcal production.

Decades later, the local tradition of mezcal production has expanded into a global industry, with international brands taking the lead. This global reach has not only popularized the spirit in bars worldwide but has also significantly impacted the landscape. For instance, in areas like San Luis del Rio, celebrity-endorsed brands such as Dos Hombres by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul have led to vast agave plantations replacing former forested hills. This growth has brought prosperity to many local mezcal makers but at a high environmental cost.

According to Mexico’s mezcal regulatory authority, production soared from approximately 1 million liters (264,172 gallons) in 2010 to over 11 million liters (2.9 million gallons) by 2024. Most of this production is centered in Oaxaca, with less than 30% consumed domestically and about three-quarters exported primarily to the United States.

Research led by Rufino Sandoval-García from the Technological University of the Central Valley of Oaxaca revealed that over 34,953 hectares (86,370 acres) of tropical dry and pine oak forests—equivalent to the size of Detroit—were cleared in Oaxaca’s key mezcal-producing regions over 27 years to accommodate agave cultivation. This expansion, primarily involving the espadin species used in most commercial mezcal, has led to a 400% increase in agave plantations, replacing forests and arable land.

This shift has accelerated soil erosion, diminished carbon dioxide capture by forests by 4 million tons annually, hindered groundwater recharge, and created heat islands in densely planted areas. “It will take a long time for the ecosystem to regain its former resilience,” Sandoval-García noted.

Producing one liter (0.26 gallons) of mezcal can require significant water for fermentation and distillation, producing waste materials like bagazo (pulpy residue) and vinazas (wastewater), often released untreated into local waterways. Additionally, large amounts of firewood are consumed to roast agave and fuel the distillation process, frequently sourced from illegal logging activities. The environmental toll of mezcal was once mitigated by its smaller scale and the natural recovery capacity of surrounding ecosystems, but this balance is now under threat.

Félix Monterrosa, a third-generation mezcal producer from Santiago Matatlan, lamented the shift from traditional mixed farming systems to monoculture. “Everything is now monoculture, and that’s the real issue,” he said. In his town, the prolonged disposal of mezcal waste has heavily polluted the local river, now derogatorily nicknamed “Nilo,” implying it’s too foul even to smell.

Monterrosa is attempting to reintroduce biodiversity by planting wild agaves with corn and trees, although scaling this practice remains challenging. Water scarcity is another growing concern across Oaxaca, with 2024 marking the region’s most severe drought in over a decade, per Mexico’s National Water Commission.

Local producer Armando Martínez Ruiz, who supplies to the Mexican brand Amaras, has implemented a water conservation system in his distillation process. “Water has always been scarce here, so I try to conserve as much as possible,” he explained.

While major mezcal brands promote their sustainability efforts, these often do not extend beyond purchasing mezcal in bulk, leaving producers to cover the costs of raw materials, labor, and distillery maintenance. Del Maguey, a leading global mezcal brand, claims to have mitigated its environmental impact by reusing over 5,000 tons of bagazo and 2 million liters (528,344 gallons) of vinaza in construction projects to prevent flooding and minimize contamination.

The surge in mezcal production has been vital for economic survival in regions with high poverty rates. Luis Cruz Velasco, a producer from San Luis del Rio working with brands like Bruxo, noted that the industry has provided employment for nearly every local family, enabling his siblings to pursue higher education. “People question our reforestation efforts, but we need to secure our livelihood and food,” Velasco said.

Velasco argues that the challenge is not the presence of large brands, which he believes have offered more support than the government, but rather the lack of incentives for farmers to preserve the environment by planting native trees or maintaining traditional farming methods.

In Oaxaca, much of the land is communally owned and managed. Converting forests to agave plantations requires federal approval, but the process is so cumbersome that many communities circumvent it, according to Helena Iturribarria of the Tierra de Agaves project. The Secretary of Environment recently stated that no new permits for deforestation for agave cultivation had been requested in the past three years in Oaxaca, though investigations into illegal land clearing are ongoing.

In 2018, Garnica established a collective of women called “Guardians of Mezcal,” advocating for sustainably produced mezcal by women. With support from Tierra de Agaves and local officials, they secured protected status for 26,000 hectares of forest around Santa Maria Zoquitlan. “Mezcal is not just a drink; it’s a way of life passed down by our parents, playing a central role in our community’s social and economic fabric,” Garnica emphasized.