Avocados are one of the most popular fruits to ever exist, and as a California girl, I am used to putting avocados on everything. Going to school in Michigan, I struggle to find ripe avocados at the super market on a daily basis yet at home, in the avocado capital of the world, I have never had that problem until now….
So, what’s the sitch?
When I called my mom last week, I was horrified to hear that grocery stores have recently spiked the prices of avocados due to a large scale shortage. The price of organic avocados has risen 20 cents within the last month alone from $1.52 to $1.71.
Within the last year, the price of an avocado has increased over 25%. The rising prices and shortage of avocados are impacting restaurants, grocery stores, and almost every person in the United States, because who doesn’t love avocados?
How did we get here?
There are multiple reasons why avocado prices have risen such as the drought in California, worker strikes in Mexico, beetles infecting avocado orchards in California, and the extreme heat throughout this summer — the height of the avocado season.
The Life of ‘Cado
If you’re like me and can’t imagine your life without avocado, I have good news. While it may be difficult to ration your avocado usage, they can actually stay fresh for 7-10 days, if left in the fridge. So, instead of eating a full avocado for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, try to use a little bit of one avocado for each meal, and it will go much further.
One of my friends proposed that I should try eating foods that don’t involve avocados at all, but I seriously almost passed out at the thought of that suggestion. The truth is that avocados make everything taste better. Be weary of the rising prices of avocados this year, and hopefully, next avocado season, the harvest will be better and prices should, hopefully, start to go down.