People usually don’t take into consideration the social and environmental effects of crop production in other parts of the world, especially freshmen.

For three Gunnison High School (GHS) students, doing just that earned them a pretty special honor from National Public Radio. Reilly Seward, Taylor Grosse, Karma Freeman teamed up and won NPR Student Podcast Challenge. 

Gunnison High School (GHS) freshmen had the opportunity to pick a subject in their geography class, led by Taylor Martin, to pick a current events topic in the area of social studies. Students had the opportunity to research and report to their class their issues of choice. Between all of the classes, there was a majority vote held. There were nine nominated groups throughout the class of 2024. The winning group members were Reilly Seward, Taylor Grosse, Karma Freeman. Karma explained how their podcast is about the environmental and social impact of the avocado industry on people living in Mexico and South America. She explained how the early 90s avocado industry has risen in popularity, which has caused the United States to import avocados from Mexico because of their popularity. Therefore creating interest in mafia groups in Mexican avocado farms. Which has led to violence and abuse to farmworkers. If you are interested in clicking the link above to learn about the Avocado Mafia podcast.