America would run out of avocados in three weeks if President Donald Trump were to make good on his recent threat to close the border with Mexico. If you hadn’t heard that by now, congratulations. You successfully avoided the week’s biggest news story.

It’s been a veritable guacamole-gate since Monday, when the president of the world’s largest avocado distributor told Reuters how a border shutdown might affect his company’s product. “You couldn’t pick a worse time of year because Mexico supplies virtually 100 percent of the avocados in the U.S. right now,” Steve Barnard, of Mission Produce, said. “California is just starting and they have a very small crop, but they’re not relevant right now and won’t be for another month or so.”

This was just one part of a broader story about Mexican imports that would be affected by a border shutdown—not just avocados, but tequila and cucumbers and gasoline. Yet the potential for an avocado famine became a story in itself, spawning hundreds of stories online. More than a dozen segments aired across MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News—even one on ESPN. Late night comedians Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Seth Meyers all included the avocado’s now-uncertain fate in their opening monologues. Noah joked that white people might start illegally emigrating to Mexico if that was the only place to get their fix of avocado toast. “Holy Lack-a-Guacamole!” Colbert exclaimed. But Meyers smartly cut through the hysteria and guffaws.

“Officials are claiming that the United States will run out of avocados within three weeks if President Trump closes the U.S.-Mexico border, which is bad,” he said on Late Night. “But I think it’s way more disconcerting that everything has to be explained to the public in avocados.” There are far better reasons to be concerned about Trump’s proposal, Meyers said. “There will be a trade war! Families will be torn apart! Our national reputation will be damaged!” Then he delivered his punchline:

From tonight’s #LNSM: Wait, WHAT might happen to avocados?! 🥑 pic.twitter.com/iBa03J3MlW — Late Night with Seth Meyers (@LateNightSeth) April 2, 2019

Meyers is right. To put the avocado hysteria in perspective, a border shutdown could cost American manufacturers hundreds of billions of dollars, dramatically raise the price of all fresh produce, prompt the U.S. stock market to plummet, and threaten the livelihood of countless day laborers. But there’s a reason those angles aren’t quite as popular: Journalists write stories about avocados to trick you into caring about something that you might not otherwise, whether it be climate change or a border shutdown or millennial spending habits.

