10 Fun Facts About Avocados
It’s no secret that I love avocados. This year it seems like I am eating them at least every other day on toast, in a salad, or mashed up for guacamole.
Just about every grocery list I make for HH these days has him buying at least 6 on every trip to the store. For about $1.50 each, you can’t go wrong with the exotic tasting and versatile avocado.
My all time favorite avocados are the teeny tiny ones Trader Joe’s sells. I haven’t had a bad one yet!
But when we buy them from the regular grocery store we usually look for the Haas avocados from California or Mexico.
They seem to be hard or impossible to find these days so we have been buying a different variety from both Columbia and Chile and they’ve been hit or miss lately.
On a side note, it drives my husband crazy when I say the word “guac” instead of saying the entire word “guacamole”. Okay, so maybe I do it to annoy him. 😉
Okay, so here we go!
10 Fun Facts About Avocados
1. It wasn’t until the ’50’s that Americans started eating avocados in any great numbers. The marketing idea of linking the Super Bowl with guacamole gave the avocado a huge push in popularity.
2. The avocado actually contains more potassium than a banana. Throw in some avocado in your morning smoothie with your banana for a potassium extravaganza!
3. The avocado is actually classed as a berry! It can also stay on the tree until needed and then will ripen after picking assuring they will always be in season.
They will not ripen on the tree. Interesting.
4. Avocados are a great source of monounsaturated fats. They are great for heart health and can reduce cholesterol levels. It’s the good sort of healthy fat and they also contain a fair amount of fiber as well.
5. The Hass avocado is the world’s most popular and was developed by Rudolph Hass in the 1920’s in California.
6. Don’t want to eat an avocado right now but are worried about them over-ripening? Freeze avocados after pureeing or cutting them in chunks along with some lemon juice.
There, you’re good to go next time you want avocado toast!
7. An Australian chef is the first person to place avocado toast on a menu in the ’90’s and made it more popular, but it was certainly eaten on toast way before that.
It is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast for sure. At the height of avocado toast popularity, it is said 3,000,000 pictures of avocado toast were uploaded to Instagram daily. Wow!
8. Mexico, The Netherlands, and Chile are the world’s largest exporters of avocados. Mexico exports about 40% of the world’s supply.
The Netherlands is the largest exporter, but it purchases from all over the world and is the avocado hub of Europe and other parts of the globe.
9. California is responsible for 95% of the avocados grown in the U.S., and Los Angeles is the city that eats the most. The avocado is a big part of California culture.
10. If you want to use one of the best high heat tolerance cooking oils out there, avocado oil is a winner. It has a higher smoke point than olive oil and is a much better option than many unhealthy oils used to fry or sear.
There it is. 10 fun facts about avocados. They’re good for you and can be used in so many different ways.
Had you heard any of those fun facts before? Do you have any of your own to add? Is there a particular produce item you want to know more about? I take requests!
~Mavis
Holley says
Now I know what I’m going to eat for breakfast!
Lori says
When we lived in Florida they were referred to as allegator pears.
Julie says
I’ll never refer to them as anything but alligator pears again. Thanks! 🙂
Diana says
I live in the San Diego area and we grow four varieties of avocados, Haas, Reed, Bacon, and Mexicola. They ripen at different times of the year so that way we have fresh avocadoes all year. One tree produces hundreds so we give them away to family and friends. Also when making guacamole always put your plastic wrap on the top surface of the guac and it prevents browning, it will last for days! Did you know coyotes love avocados? They jump up and pick them!
debbie in alaska says
The way HH feels about guac is how I feel about the word cuppa. We all have our quirks.
Christy Rose says
I live In Vallejo, CA which is fairly near San Francisco in a house that was built in 1904. There is an ancient fuerte avocado tree in the yard that is as tall as our three story house and it makes the BEST avocados. Our dogs all love them too. These have more of a nutty flavor and our friends are hooked on them as you can’t find them in stores.