#NationalAvocadoDay

I don’t really know why this is a thing, but today is #NationalAvocadoDay and since I have multiple avocado-memes saved on my phone, gave people avocado/guacamole themed gifts for about a year, own my own pair of avocado earrings (thanks sis!), and I think I could not live without guacamole (cue the guacamole dance), I figured I’d share some avocado-factoids with y’all.

You may thank me later.

Fact 1: One guacamole is equal to 6.022 x 10²³ guacas
One might even call it Avocado’s number.
(I know this is not a fact, but it is probably my favorite joke.)

Fact 1 (for realsies): Avocados are fruit
But to be fair, a lot of things are misclassified as vegetables. Tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, just name it. Is there even such a thing as a vegetable?

Fact 2: Avocados are super healthy
But we all knew this already. Avocados contain about 4 grams of protein, the healthy kind of fats, healthy fiber, more potassium than bananas, and a whole bunch of healthy vitamins and nutrients. And they are super yummy! What’s not to like?

Fact 3: The word avocado comes from a Aztec word that also meant “testicle”
Spanish explorers couldn’t pronounce the word “ahuacatl,” so they called the fruit “aguacate.” Ahuacatl was apparently also used to describe testicles (help). They are also sometimes called “wrinkly pear” or “alligator pear.” Just to get that image of low-hanging fruit out of your head.

Fact 4: Humans saved the avocados from extinction
Avocados used to be eaten by giants sloths who took care of avocado seed dispersal. But they have gone extinct and so should have the avocados if humans had not found them delish and saved them in maybe one of the only cases of humans helping something not go extinct.

Fact 5: There is a downside to eating avocados. SAD.
Millenials, such as myself, are so into avocado’s right now, but there is a flipside to this delicious and healthy coin and sadly it is that the avocado industry is pretty bad for the environment.  Avocados are a seasonal fruit, but we expect them to be around all year, and that is just not sustainable. Transporting avocados from countries that have the right climate for all-year-round avocado-growth causes greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, higher demand for avocados leads to issues such as deforestation, unfair farming practices and the fact that avocados need a lot of water, a lot more than most fruits and vegs, especially considering they are sometimes grown in extremely dry places (so extra water is required).
After learning that that fact, I really need a hug (or an avocuddle)…

Anyway, on this wonderful #NationalAvocadoDay, I encourage you to make some guac, eat an avocado, and do the guacamole dance, but remember to (as with all things) not overdo it!*

* Okay, I meant don’t overdo the eating avocados because of the environment thing but maybe don’t overdo the dancing because I definitely have and now everybody thinks I’m crazy.