For the love of avocados

I love avocados. There’s nothing like a spicy guacamole to start a great dinner. But alas avocados may be yet another casualty of this week’s California wildfires.

Here are the numbers behind this tasty fruit: An average tree produces 120 avocados a year. Avocados do not survive freezes or even frost. They ripen faster when exposed to bananas and other fruits that produce ethylene gas.

Approximately 90% of US avocado production is in California, with one-third of California’s 60,000 avocado acres in San Diego County, where the deputy agriculture commissioner estimates damage to nearly 5,000 acres or over 7% of US avocado acreage.

The Aztecs ate the fruit as an aphrodisiac. I hope for their sake Californians find a suitable replacement.