Ripe for the picking, add this delicious superfruit to your menu to join in National Avocado Day on July 31!
Avocados have become more than a staple food in the American diet; they have proven to be a key ingredient in recipes for both inside the body and on the body!
- According to the Hass Avocado Board, as of 2015, avocado consumption in the United States doubled since 2005 and quadrupled since 2000. In fact, a whopping 4.25 billion avocados were sold in the U.S. in 2015.
- Ancient Aztecs used the avocado to beautify their skin topically with masks, and in the early 20th century the cosmetic industry discovered the benefits of its oil in creams, lotions, facial cleansers and other products that required a smooth application.
- Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable. They belong to the Genus Persea in the Lauraceae family.
- Avocados mature on the tree, but only ripen once they are taken off the tree.
- A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed.
- On average, 53.5 million pounds of guacamole are eaten every Super Bowl Sunday, enough to cover a football field more than 20 feet thick.
- In the Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, and southern India, avocados are frequently used for milkshakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other desserts.
- According to the Guinness World Records, the world’s heaviest avocado is an avocado grown by Gabriel Ramirez Nahim, of Venezuela. It weighed 2.19 kilograms, or 4.83 pounds, on Jan. 28, 2009.
- Chipotle uses 97,000 pounds of avocado per day.
- 95% of commercially grown avocados come from trees descended from a single tree owned by a California mail carrier. Hass is the most popular variety of avocado grown worldwide. The Hass tree was discovered in the backyard of a mailman named Rudolph Hass in Californina in the 1930’s and Hass patented his tree in 1935.
- It is estimated that the Mexico drug cartels make $152 million a year from growing and selling avocados.
- Sushi was introduced to America by Ichiro Mashita in Los Angeles in the late 60s. After substituting avocado for tuna, he is credited with creating the “California Roll”.
- Stealing avocados in CA is a felony punishable by, up to 3 years in state prison.
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