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10: Avocado toast is really a story about NAFTA
Mar 28, 2017

10: Avocado toast is really a story about NAFTA

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The way we eat the fruit and buy blue jeans has a lot to do with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Donald Trump campaigned on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement or pulling the United States out of the deal altogether. But what is NAFTA, exactly? The short answer: a trade agreement that has more to do with your everyday life than you might think. 

As Molly Wood searches for a slice of avocado toast, she finds out why NAFTA is the reason we have access the Persea americana fruit year round. Meanwhile, Kai Ryssdal tracks down one of the few denim manufacturers left in the United States and finds out the surprising reason why the company hopes NAFTA stays put.

Then, Kai and Molly answer listener questions about the trade deal and what its repeal could mean for inequality, immigration and the U.S. steel industry. Plus, a great story about what a triple play had to do with negotiating the deal in the first place. 

Check out more of our series “NAFTA, Explained.” You can start by learning a brief history of NAFTA. Think you know it all? Test your knowledge! Fill in these charts and we’ll tell you how the economy actually did post-NAFTA.

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