1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,240
Speaker 1: Guess what, Mango, what's that?

2
00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:03,360
Speaker 2: Well, well, I know you like to turn to me

3
00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:05,840
Speaker 2: to keep up with like the coolest things going on

4
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:09,160
Speaker 2: in the world, or like trends happening, So I wanted

5
00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:11,319
Speaker 2: to let you in a little secret. Have you heard

6
00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,280
Speaker 2: about the coolest way to use an avocado right now?

7
00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 1: So I'm not really off on super hip avocado trends.

8
00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,480
Speaker 1: Like I saw a restaurant ridiculed online for serving this

9
00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:27,160
Speaker 1: deconstructed avocado toast which was just half an avocado on

10
00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:28,600
Speaker 1: one side of a play and then a piece of

11
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:30,720
Speaker 1: toast on the other. And they didn't even do the

12
00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,800
Speaker 1: work of smashing them together. It was just like overpriced laziness.

13
00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,360
Speaker 1: But I don't know what trend are you talking about.

14
00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,199
Speaker 2: It's actually not a dish. So the coolest thing you

15
00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,920
Speaker 2: can do right now with an avocado is to propose

16
00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,400
Speaker 2: with one. And I'm not kidding about this. So the

17
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,559
Speaker 2: not Cosmo and all these other places have declared that

18
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 2: the avocado proposal it's here, Mango, it's here.

19
00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,560
Speaker 1: I'm excited, but I don't know what it is. Tell

20
00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:56,640
Speaker 1: me all.

21
00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,400
Speaker 2: Right, So, basically, people are slicing an avocado in half,

22
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,400
Speaker 2: taking out the pit and then sticking a little ring

23
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,640
Speaker 2: in so it stands up right. Actually, this is kind

24
00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,679
Speaker 2: of grossing me out, but I'm trying to go with it.

25
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,080
Speaker 2: And so then the moment is right and you just

26
00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,759
Speaker 2: queue up cold play, You get down on one knee,

27
00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,520
Speaker 2: you take that avocado out of your back pocket. I

28
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,240
Speaker 2: don't know why they're suggesting to keep it in your

29
00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,000
Speaker 2: back pocket, and then you crack it open like a

30
00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,240
Speaker 2: ring box and as then puts it quote, if you

31
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,480
Speaker 2: love the farmer's market, this might be your dream proposal.

32
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,880
Speaker 1: I like that it's the official proposal of like farmers' markets.

33
00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've always looked for one of these. Well, today's

34
00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,600
Speaker 2: show is all about the creamy green fruit from Why

35
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,640
Speaker 2: you Should Thank a Mailman for your guacamole obsession to win.

36
00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 2: Avocado theft became so trendy, So we're about to get

37
00:01:42,080 --> 00:02:06,600
Speaker 2: knee high on avocado's let's dive in. Hey their podcast listeners,

38
00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:08,880
Speaker 2: Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, and as

39
00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,200
Speaker 2: always I'm joined by my good friend Mangesh hot Ticketter

40
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,119
Speaker 2: and on the other side of the soundproof glass, demonstrating

41
00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,799
Speaker 2: the absolute worst way to peel an avocado. I Honestly,

42
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:18,880
Speaker 2: I can't even look at it.

43
00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:20,679
Speaker 1: I know, I don't think you're supposed to use a

44
00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,320
Speaker 1: vegetable peeler on Tristan.

45
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,320
Speaker 2: Oh, well, anyway, I'm gonna turn my head. But that's

46
00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,840
Speaker 2: our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. So I realized, you

47
00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,240
Speaker 2: know mego, this is a slightly grim way to start

48
00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,000
Speaker 2: the show. But I was reading about this recent wave

49
00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,120
Speaker 2: of avocado related injuries, or what they call avocado hand

50
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,040
Speaker 2: and people are doing serious damage to their hands by

51
00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,080
Speaker 2: trying and of course failing, to cut into their avocados.

52
00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,519
Speaker 1: So that's pretty crazy. Like I hadn't heard about people

53
00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:50,520
Speaker 1: injuring themselves on avocados. But it does feel like the

54
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,400
Speaker 1: same as when bagels became really popular in the nineties

55
00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,160
Speaker 1: and suddenly like every local news story was about people

56
00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,760
Speaker 1: cutting themselves with bagels and how to appropriately slice a

57
00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 1: bag It doesn't seem bad difficult, but I mean, I

58
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,800
Speaker 1: guess you don't get avocado's presliced. What's the solution.

59
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,799
Speaker 2: Well, it's actually become a big enough problem that there's

60
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,840
Speaker 2: this British plastic surgeon and he's been pushing for warning

61
00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:16,000
Speaker 2: labels to be added to avocados. In the UK really

62
00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,960
Speaker 2: and apparently, yeah, seriously, apparently he treats an average of

63
00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,480
Speaker 2: four patients a week, four patients a week for avaquada

64
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,520
Speaker 2: based injuries. So I mean, it may seem weird to

65
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,799
Speaker 2: put a sticker and that it may actually sound silly,

66
00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:30,800
Speaker 2: but you can't really blame him for wanting to do

67
00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,400
Speaker 2: something about this epidemic of avocado fails.

68
00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,880
Speaker 1: That's so weird. Like I mean, I feel like you

69
00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:37,880
Speaker 1: can cut an avocado with a butter knife. You don't

70
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:39,760
Speaker 1: need something super sharp to do it.

71
00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:40,960
Speaker 2: Well.

72
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:43,680
Speaker 1: While prepping for today's show, one of my biggest takeaways

73
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,600
Speaker 1: was that most Americans have always been pretty clueless when

74
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,920
Speaker 1: it comes to these leathery fruits, and this confusion actually

75
00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,200
Speaker 1: goes all the way back to the early twentieth century.

76
00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,360
Speaker 1: That's when avocado production was first taking root in the US.

77
00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,640
Speaker 1: But before we get into the state side history, I

78
00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,600
Speaker 1: do want to go back a little further in time

79
00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,560
Speaker 1: because humans have actually been cultivating avocado trees for thousands

80
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,240
Speaker 1: of years now. It goes as far back as five

81
00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,440
Speaker 1: hundred BC, and this was mostly taking place in Central

82
00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,920
Speaker 1: and South America as well as Mexico, where the Aztecs

83
00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 1: were calling the fruit a word that they used for testicle.

84
00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,320
Speaker 2: And so that was based on what like the fruit shape.

85
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, but also because avocado's typically grown pears, which I

86
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:24,960
Speaker 1: guess further the resemblance.

87
00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:26,440
Speaker 2: But h I get it, I get it.

88
00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,400
Speaker 1: I go. Yeah, it's a great joke that kills at recess.

89
00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,760
Speaker 1: But they also used to be considered something of an afrodisiac.

90
00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,240
Speaker 1: But that might have just been Europeans reading too much

91
00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,560
Speaker 1: into the words origin. Like apparently King Louis the fourteenth

92
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,760
Speaker 1: nicknamed avocado's the good pear in French, you know, pear

93
00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,359
Speaker 1: the fruit, not pair pai r. But he called it

94
00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,520
Speaker 1: that because he claimed avocado's got him in the mood

95
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,440
Speaker 1: and boosted his desire to mate.

96
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,920
Speaker 2: Well, Louis definitely wasn't the last person to compare avocados

97
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,480
Speaker 2: to the shape of a pair, because when avocados first

98
00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,960
Speaker 2: started to catch on in the US, people were actually

99
00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,040
Speaker 2: calling them alligator pears. Makes sense, I mean, obviously that

100
00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,839
Speaker 2: tough outer skin, it has that bumpy texture and green coloring.

101
00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,240
Speaker 2: I mean, he does kind of look like an alligator,

102
00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:10,440
Speaker 2: but he didn't really make for the most appetizing association,

103
00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:11,480
Speaker 2: as you can imagine.

104
00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:13,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I guess like biting into an alligator

105
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:14,800
Speaker 1: seems like a tough cell.

106
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's exactly what the California Avocado Growers Exchange

107
00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,120
Speaker 2: found when they were trying to expand their business just

108
00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,880
Speaker 2: beyond that home state. And they claim that grim association

109
00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,640
Speaker 2: with you know, with reptiles was kind of ruining the

110
00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,960
Speaker 2: whole operation. And even worse, it was, you know, of course,

111
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,919
Speaker 2: besmirching the good name of the Laurel tree family to

112
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,320
Speaker 2: which these avocados belong. And this is serious because in

113
00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,200
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty seven, the trade group released the statement and

114
00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,760
Speaker 2: here's what it says. That the avocado, an exalted member

115
00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,280
Speaker 2: of the Laurel family, should be called an alligator pair

116
00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,240
Speaker 2: is beyond all understanding.

117
00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:50,760
Speaker 1: I love that they thought this would be the thing

118
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,360
Speaker 1: to change people's minds. Like, I know how we'll get

119
00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,680
Speaker 1: people on board. Let's appeal to everyone's love for Laurel trees.

120
00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's all it took. Well, I mean, it was

121
00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,720
Speaker 2: maybe kind of a strange play, but they did get

122
00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,520
Speaker 2: smarter about the rebranding. The growers slowly weaned the public

123
00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,200
Speaker 2: off of the alligator pear as a nickname, and they

124
00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,040
Speaker 2: first replaced it with a much more appetizing butter paar,

125
00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,160
Speaker 2: and then the somewhat redundant avocado pear before they finally

126
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,360
Speaker 2: just got people to start calling them avocados. But even

127
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,240
Speaker 2: once customers started calling them by the right name, avocados

128
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,120
Speaker 2: still faced a pretty uphill battle.

129
00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:25,360
Speaker 1: So why is that.

130
00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,320
Speaker 2: Well, for one thing, if you think about it, they're

131
00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,599
Speaker 2: unlike any other fruits that people were eating because they're

132
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,040
Speaker 2: not sweet, they're not really good for cooking. They ripened

133
00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,000
Speaker 2: off the tree. I mean, people didn't really know what

134
00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:37,760
Speaker 2: to do with them.

135
00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny to think that Mexican culture and cuisine

136
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,840
Speaker 1: just took to it so quickly, but just one country north,

137
00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,760
Speaker 1: we were so perplexed by this fruit, like it took

138
00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,599
Speaker 1: so much rebranding and marketing for us to catch on.

139
00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 1: I mean, the process took most of the twentieth century

140
00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:52,080
Speaker 1: to get us on board.

141
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true, But it actually is kind of fun

142
00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,440
Speaker 2: to look back and see how avocados kind of gradually

143
00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,880
Speaker 2: took on the characteristics that we most associate with them today.

144
00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,840
Speaker 2: For example, the need to grow avocados only in the

145
00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,080
Speaker 2: mildest parts of the country, you know, where you'd find

146
00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,600
Speaker 2: the water and short supply. That really meant avocados often

147
00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,080
Speaker 2: cost more than other domestic fruits, and of course marketers

148
00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,640
Speaker 2: were aware of how expensive their product was becoming, and

149
00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,520
Speaker 2: that's really why they started pushing for avocados to be

150
00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,280
Speaker 2: paired with other upscale foods like grapefruit or lobster. And

151
00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,200
Speaker 2: in fact, in the late nineteen twenties, and I had

152
00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,440
Speaker 2: not seen this before doing our research for this week,

153
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,960
Speaker 2: but the California Avocados Society started taking out ads in

154
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,920
Speaker 2: Vogue and The New Yorker, and they were proclaiming the

155
00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,760
Speaker 2: avocados to be the quote aristocrat of salad fruits.

156
00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:39,920
Speaker 1: I like, the avocados need to come in top hats

157
00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:44,040
Speaker 1: and monocles just so likely. But you know, to me,

158
00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,280
Speaker 1: that's less advertizing than just calling them alligator pairs.

159
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, but the fruits fancy status kind of stuck, and

160
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,640
Speaker 2: by the nineteen seventies, avocados had developed this reputation as

161
00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,480
Speaker 2: really more of a luxury item. For example, in nineteen

162
00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,760
Speaker 2: seventy four, the price of a single avocado had soared

163
00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,280
Speaker 2: as high as a full dollar. Now keep in mind

164
00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,560
Speaker 2: that's the equivalent of almost five dollars in today's money.

165
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,640
Speaker 1: That is crazy So what about avocado's other big claim,

166
00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,280
Speaker 1: like the idea that they're one of the world's healthiest superfoods.

167
00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:12,720
Speaker 1: When did that really come about?

168
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,480
Speaker 2: Well, it really took off in the nineteen eighties, and

169
00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,120
Speaker 2: as you might remember, this is when nutrition experts really

170
00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,720
Speaker 2: started to crack down on America's fat consumption. So low

171
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,520
Speaker 2: fat food started appearing on store shelves, and every celebrity

172
00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,960
Speaker 2: you could think of was pushing some sort of patented

173
00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,240
Speaker 2: diet or crazy new piece of exercise equipment. And you know,

174
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,600
Speaker 2: as people began looking for more and more ways to

175
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,679
Speaker 2: reduce their fat intake, avocados became a pretty popular target.

176
00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,840
Speaker 1: But wait, aren't avocados full of like the good kind

177
00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,240
Speaker 1: of fat that kind of actually helps us reduce cholesterol? Like,

178
00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:45,960
Speaker 1: why would experts tell people not to eat them?

179
00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,600
Speaker 2: Well, at the time, nutritionists were worried that the American

180
00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:50,960
Speaker 2: public wouldn't be able to wrap their heads around that

181
00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,640
Speaker 2: distinction between the types of fats, you know, between the

182
00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:58,160
Speaker 2: good mono unsaturated fats and the bad saturated fat. So

183
00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,840
Speaker 2: instead they just told people to avoid fats all together.

184
00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,360
Speaker 2: And that's why, strangely enough, it actually fell to the

185
00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,680
Speaker 2: avocado growers to educate the public about the fruit's true

186
00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,920
Speaker 2: nutritional value. So in the late eighties, the California Avocado Commission.

187
00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,280
Speaker 2: They worked closely with researchers and funded all sorts of

188
00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,199
Speaker 2: studies on the health benefits of their product. And then

189
00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,520
Speaker 2: the grower spread the good news with a TV ad

190
00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,800
Speaker 2: campaign and it starred Angie Dickinson, and the ads were

191
00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,720
Speaker 2: a huge hit, but they were also pretty scandalous for

192
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,000
Speaker 2: the time. So here's what the ad was. It showed

193
00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,680
Speaker 2: Angie stretched out in these gold stilettos and a white

194
00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,200
Speaker 2: leotard and she was eating half an avocado with a spooch. Sure,

195
00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,400
Speaker 2: And after she lays out how tasty and nutritious the

196
00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,000
Speaker 2: avocados are, she turns to the camera and asked, would

197
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,080
Speaker 2: this body lie to you? I had forgotten where I

198
00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:47,840
Speaker 2: got that line from. I know I used that line

199
00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,320
Speaker 2: a lot, I didn't remember that Angie had created that.

200
00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,560
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess the nutrition experts were wrong to

201
00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,840
Speaker 1: doubt the American public like, we can absolutely understand the

202
00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,319
Speaker 1: health benefits of avocados as long as they're explained to

203
00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,760
Speaker 1: us by beautiful movie star. So I do feel like

204
00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,000
Speaker 1: uh Kanye as I'm about to say this because Angie Dickinson,

205
00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,240
Speaker 1: you did a good job, and I'm gonna let you finish.

206
00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,360
Speaker 1: But mister Ripe Guy is the best spokesperson in the

207
00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:12,440
Speaker 1: avocado industry.

208
00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:14,960
Speaker 2: I can't say I'm familiar with his work. So who

209
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,160
Speaker 2: is mister Ripe Guy?

210
00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,720
Speaker 1: I can't believe you're asking me that. No. This goes

211
00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,880
Speaker 1: back to the avocados struggle. So after surviving the anti

212
00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,800
Speaker 1: fat movement of the eighties, sales were still suffering to

213
00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,840
Speaker 1: the public's lack of knowledge about the fruit. So one

214
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,280
Speaker 1: prime example is that people weren't even sure when to

215
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,200
Speaker 1: eat avocados. People kept trying to eat them when they

216
00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,920
Speaker 1: were like bright green, because that's when they looked the prettiest,

217
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:39,679
Speaker 1: instead of waiting until the fruit to turn like a

218
00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,840
Speaker 1: murky brown color, and that's actually when it's most delicious

219
00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,960
Speaker 1: or the ripest to eat. But to combat the problem,

220
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,200
Speaker 1: the Avocado Commission partnered with an ad agency and created

221
00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:54,520
Speaker 1: their very own mascot, mister Ripe Guy. And in true

222
00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:59,080
Speaker 1: eighties fashion, this California character was basically just an anthropomorphic

223
00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,320
Speaker 1: avocado with a pair of sunglasses on.

224
00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:03,920
Speaker 2: Wait, you know what this reminds me of? And I

225
00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,560
Speaker 2: collected all of these from I can't remember whether it

226
00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,480
Speaker 2: was McDonald's or Hearty's or what it was, but you

227
00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:10,959
Speaker 2: remember the California.

228
00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:14,320
Speaker 1: Raisin definitely, So it definitely feels like a California raisin

229
00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,920
Speaker 1: rip off. But someone would show up in an avocada

230
00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,160
Speaker 1: suit at various events, and this was around the country.

231
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,120
Speaker 1: They'd share tips as mister Ripe guy on how to

232
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,800
Speaker 1: pick and prep avocados and just generally sing the fruits praises.

233
00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,160
Speaker 1: But the best part of the campaign was in nineteen

234
00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,960
Speaker 1: ninety five when the Commission launched a nationwide search to

235
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,480
Speaker 1: find Miss Ripe, and women were encouraged to mail and

236
00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,559
Speaker 1: video cassettes of themselves explaining why they deserved this coveted honor,

237
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,400
Speaker 1: and apparently the winner would receive a free trip to

238
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,959
Speaker 1: Hollywood and a walk on roll on Baywatch Nights.

239
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,199
Speaker 2: I like cut didn't even occur to them that maybe

240
00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,960
Speaker 2: they should win a lifetime supply of avocados. I feel

241
00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,400
Speaker 2: like maybe they didn't think through this campaign fully.

242
00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean maybe they would have gotten more people

243
00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,000
Speaker 1: to enter, but in the end, least one woman was

244
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:03,440
Speaker 1: interested in what was on offer. The lucky winner was

245
00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,840
Speaker 1: Robin nardone of Chicago who I'm sure you remember, and

246
00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,800
Speaker 1: he told reporters, going to be Miss Ripe is like

247
00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,600
Speaker 1: a dream come true. I will bear the title proudly.

248
00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,320
Speaker 2: That's really sweet. And of course everybody still talks about

249
00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,040
Speaker 2: that episode of Baywatch Nights that she was on, right, definitely. Well,

250
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,200
Speaker 2: I'm curious, so did these kinds of stunts pay off

251
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:23,160
Speaker 2: for avocado growers.

252
00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 1: Well, it's hard to say exactly how much of the

253
00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,960
Speaker 1: industry's growth is due to mister and missus Ripe guy,

254
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,480
Speaker 1: but there's no doubt that the avocado consumption has gone

255
00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,880
Speaker 1: way way off since the nineties. For example, by nineteen

256
00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,560
Speaker 1: ninety nine, the average American was eating about one point

257
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,200
Speaker 1: five pounds of avocado per year, whereas in twenty sixteen

258
00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:43,360
Speaker 1: that number had actually grown to seven point one pounds

259
00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,720
Speaker 1: per year according to USDA. Yeah, and to put that

260
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,600
Speaker 1: in perspective, the hass Avocado Board reported that four hundred

261
00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,640
Speaker 1: and eighty four million avocados were consumed in two thousand,

262
00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,160
Speaker 1: which sounds like a lot, right, But you fast forward

263
00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,440
Speaker 1: to twenty twelve and the total had risen to nearly

264
00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,840
Speaker 1: one point five billion, which is basically a three hundred

265
00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,640
Speaker 1: percent increase over just a decade.

266
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,880
Speaker 2: I mean, that is pretty amazing. It's also pretty amazing

267
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,680
Speaker 2: that it's taken us this long to finally mention the

268
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,600
Speaker 2: H word. So I do want to shift gears and

269
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,840
Speaker 2: talk about what is undoubtedly the biggest name in the business,

270
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,920
Speaker 2: and that's the Hass avocado. Now, I know we need

271
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,520
Speaker 2: to explore how the variety came to dominate the market,

272
00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,080
Speaker 2: as well as what that monopoly might be causing us

273
00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:24,840
Speaker 2: to miss out.

274
00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,000
Speaker 1: On, which sounds good. But before we get into it,

275
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:42,120
Speaker 1: let's take a quick break.

276
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,000
Speaker 2: You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're talking all

277
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,440
Speaker 2: things avocado, Okay, mango. So we've been charting the course

278
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,320
Speaker 2: of how misunderstood fruit like the avocado wound up as

279
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,360
Speaker 2: one of the world's trendiout superfoods. And so now we're

280
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,960
Speaker 2: getting to what's probably my favorite part of the story,

281
00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,200
Speaker 2: which is the contribution of a Californian mailman named Rudolph Hass.

282
00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,000
Speaker 2: And while this story isn't widely known, I'm willing to

283
00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,800
Speaker 2: bet that the name sounds familiar to most of our listeners,

284
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,480
Speaker 2: and for very good reason, because Hass avocados are hands

285
00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:12,920
Speaker 2: down the most popular avocado, not only in the country,

286
00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,719
Speaker 2: but in the entire world. In fact, there's a good

287
00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,719
Speaker 2: chance that most people have only ever eaten the hass avocado.

288
00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 2: And that's because ninety five percent of the avocados sold

289
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,040
Speaker 2: in the US and about eighty percent worldwide are hass avocados.

290
00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:28,120
Speaker 1: I'm honestly not sure I could even name a different

291
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:28,880
Speaker 1: kind of avocado.

292
00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,520
Speaker 2: Well, here's what's crazy, though, is that there's actually more

293
00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,520
Speaker 2: than nine hundred varieties of avocados. You know, some of

294
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,320
Speaker 2: these things have very different shapes and textures and flavors

295
00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,560
Speaker 2: than that single type that we're used to. But thankfully,

296
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,120
Speaker 2: the one type we do have is a pretty good one.

297
00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,720
Speaker 2: Hass avocados have a strong flavor, they're packed with healthy oil,

298
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,000
Speaker 2: so it's not like we're getting the short end of

299
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,600
Speaker 2: the stick on this. And there's a reason Hass is

300
00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,600
Speaker 2: the most popular name in avocados, even if that popularity

301
00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,320
Speaker 2: does result in a real lack of diversity on the

302
00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:00,000
Speaker 2: store shelves.

303
00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:02,920
Speaker 1: So speaking of the name, this is sort of embarrassing.

304
00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:04,760
Speaker 1: But I used to think that Hass was just the

305
00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,960
Speaker 1: name of the family farm or like the company that

306
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,240
Speaker 1: grew them, you know, like Dole or Chikita. But I

307
00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:11,960
Speaker 1: didn't know it was actually a fruit variety.

308
00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I don't think most people do know that.

309
00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,880
Speaker 2: But so to get back to that, let's get back

310
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,760
Speaker 2: to Rudolph Hass and he was a postman by trade

311
00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,880
Speaker 2: in the nineteen twenties and then got into horticulture after

312
00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,240
Speaker 2: he saw this magazine ad that showed an avocado tree

313
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,240
Speaker 2: with dollar bills growing out of it. I mean, that

314
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,440
Speaker 2: sounds pretty convincing. So he was hoping to make some

315
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,480
Speaker 2: money on the side and started buying up seeds and

316
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,200
Speaker 2: raising these resulting trees at his family home. And this

317
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,440
Speaker 2: was just outside of La so he was grassed from

318
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,640
Speaker 2: the larger plants to multiply that crop. But there was

319
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:47,400
Speaker 2: one seedling in particulars He described it a stubborn baby

320
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,040
Speaker 2: tree grown from a Guatemalan seed of unknown parentage, or

321
00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,840
Speaker 2: that's how one local newspaper put it. That it wouldn't

322
00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,200
Speaker 2: accept a graph no matter how hard has tried. He

323
00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,200
Speaker 2: considered cutting it down, but instead he just said to

324
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,040
Speaker 2: decide and let it grow unattended as a somewhat of

325
00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,840
Speaker 2: an experiment. And this turned out to be the best

326
00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,640
Speaker 2: decision of Hass's life, because when the tree finally bore fruit.

327
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,480
Speaker 2: It's avocado's tasted better than any other of the varieties available.

328
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,040
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, first of all, i just love that

329
00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,320
Speaker 1: the world's most popular avocado is a result of like

330
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,880
Speaker 1: dumb luck. But also I'm really curious about these other

331
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,840
Speaker 1: varieties that predate the Hass, Like what were the go

332
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,120
Speaker 1: to avocados at the time, and what made the Hass

333
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:29,160
Speaker 1: one so much better.

334
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,800
Speaker 2: Well, at the time, the prevailing avocado was called the fuerte,

335
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,680
Speaker 2: which means strong and Spanish. And admittedly, the fuerte looks

336
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:39,840
Speaker 2: more appetizing than the hass. You know, you don't have

337
00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,400
Speaker 2: that bumpy, thick, black skin of the hass. The fuerte

338
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,120
Speaker 2: avocado has more of a smooth and kind of a

339
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,000
Speaker 2: thin skin, and it actually turns a green color as

340
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,760
Speaker 2: it ripens. But you know, when you think about taste,

341
00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,760
Speaker 2: Hass avocados are way richer and nuttier and creamier than

342
00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,680
Speaker 2: the fuertes, And so this gave them a big advantage

343
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,640
Speaker 2: in Rudolph Hass's mind. But of course taste wasn't the

344
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,560
Speaker 2: only thing they had going for them. Another big advantage

345
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,960
Speaker 2: is that the Hass avocado trees were easier to grow

346
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,320
Speaker 2: than the fuerte trees. They also have longer harvest seasons

347
00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:13,800
Speaker 2: than other avocados, and they can produce larger quantities of

348
00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,920
Speaker 2: fruit after just a couple of years. But there's one

349
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,560
Speaker 2: thing that's maybe even more important than all of those things,

350
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,639
Speaker 2: and that's that these avocados are easy to handle and

351
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,520
Speaker 2: even ship long distances. And that's thanks to that alligator

352
00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,439
Speaker 2: thick skin that we were talking about before. So when

353
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,280
Speaker 2: Rudolph Hass realized that he'd stumbled upon something special, he

354
00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,280
Speaker 2: patented his tree in nineteen thirty five and started working

355
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:38,600
Speaker 2: with a local grower to promote this new variety.

356
00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:41,000
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny when you're talking about the packability

357
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,479
Speaker 1: of these avocados. You think about other fruit like the

358
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,879
Speaker 1: red Delicious or the cavendish bananas, and they are always

359
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,720
Speaker 1: sacrificing flavor for that durability, and it's amazing to think

360
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,040
Speaker 1: that the avocado doesn't do that. But yeah, I don't

361
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,120
Speaker 1: think I realized you could actually patten a tree.

362
00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,560
Speaker 2: Well I didn't neither, and apparently neither did anybody else,

363
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:03,200
Speaker 2: because you know, sadly the patent was all but ignored

364
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,800
Speaker 2: by its competitors. In fact, this is how Rudolph's granddaughter

365
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,720
Speaker 2: Cindy Miller, explained the ordeal in an article about her

366
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 2: family's story. She writes, since it was the first patent

367
00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,920
Speaker 2: ever issued on a tree, it got no respect. Growers

368
00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,840
Speaker 2: would buy one from mister Brokaw, who had the exclusive

369
00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,320
Speaker 2: right to produce the nursery trees. They would then regraph

370
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 2: their whole grove with the budwood from that one tree.

371
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,480
Speaker 2: For that reason, Rudolph has made only five thousand dollars

372
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:31,359
Speaker 2: in royalties on his first patent.

373
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,399
Speaker 1: That's pretty insane, like five grand for coming up with

374
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,280
Speaker 1: the world's tastiest avocado.

375
00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:39,560
Speaker 2: It's crazy. Yeah, it's a weird story, but there is

376
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,199
Speaker 2: a silver lining for that name. So the avocados that

377
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,399
Speaker 2: bear his name have become ubiquitous with the fruit, and

378
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,959
Speaker 2: today millions of his trees can now be found all

379
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,600
Speaker 2: over the globe. And maybe the craziest part about this

380
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,720
Speaker 2: whole thing is that all of those trees are genetically

381
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,720
Speaker 2: descended from that single mother tree that has planted on

382
00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:59,400
Speaker 2: his property, and that was nearly one hundred years ago.

383
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,000
Speaker 2: In fact, it's estimated that about eighty percent of all

384
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,800
Speaker 2: US avocados are descendants of the hass avocado mother tree.

385
00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,280
Speaker 2: I mean, that's just so weird to think about. And

386
00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:12,000
Speaker 2: the original tree actually lasted quite a while too. It

387
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,919
Speaker 2: was on that Hass property until it finally lost the

388
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,280
Speaker 2: battle with something called root rot disease, and that was

389
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,000
Speaker 2: back in two thousand and two. But according to Alice Obscura,

390
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,840
Speaker 2: you can still make a pilgrimage to see the preserved

391
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,720
Speaker 2: woods from the tree at the Brokaw Nursery and Ventura

392
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,280
Speaker 2: and there's even a plaque there to market it's original

393
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:30,920
Speaker 2: location in Lejabra.

394
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,480
Speaker 1: Which I think that takes care of my summer vacation

395
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,920
Speaker 1: plans for the good good. But you know, Hass having

396
00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,159
Speaker 1: his patent undermine like that kind of reminds me of

397
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,439
Speaker 1: something weird I noticed while researching, and that's the sheer

398
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,679
Speaker 1: volume of crime that the fruit detracts. Like I wouldn't

399
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,359
Speaker 1: think this before, but you know, you mentioned earlier that

400
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,600
Speaker 1: avocados were worth equivalent of what like five dollars each

401
00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:56,960
Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies, and at the time, that high

402
00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,879
Speaker 1: value sparked a wave of avocado that's throughout the org

403
00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,200
Speaker 1: of southern California. And this was hardly an isolated incident.

404
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,359
Speaker 1: So just last year, three men were arrested in California

405
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,240
Speaker 1: for selling over three hundred thousand dollars worth of stolen

406
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:14,359
Speaker 1: hass avocados. I mean, that's insane. And when avocado prices

407
00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,399
Speaker 1: spiked in New Zealand back in twenty sixteen, farmers were

408
00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,560
Speaker 1: hit with over forty large scale thefts within a six

409
00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:22,240
Speaker 1: month period. Wow.

410
00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:24,720
Speaker 2: I mean, I had no idea that avocado crime was

411
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,040
Speaker 2: so prevalent, But if you think about it, me, it

412
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,240
Speaker 2: does make sense. I remember back in our episode on cheese,

413
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 2: we talked about how cheese is the most shoplifted item

414
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,280
Speaker 2: in the world, and that's because it's relatively a small item,

415
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,920
Speaker 2: it's always in demand, and it does tend to cost

416
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,119
Speaker 2: more than other food. So it feels like we've got

417
00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,040
Speaker 2: the same thing going here with the avocados exactly.

418
00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 1: And we already mentioned how avocados have long been viewed

419
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,280
Speaker 1: as a luxury food due to their price, so in

420
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,080
Speaker 1: a way, all the crime surrounding them is to be expected.

421
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,359
Speaker 1: But one thing nobody expected was the way that avocado

422
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,240
Speaker 1: farmers in Mexico have been fighting back against their own

423
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,800
Speaker 1: local form of avocado crimes. Because there's actually one town

424
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,679
Speaker 1: there that has its own paramilitary avocado Protection Force.

425
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 2: Wait, so where is this.

426
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,800
Speaker 1: It's in a town called Tansataro and it's in the

427
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 1: micho acm region of Mexico. It's basically avocado country. The

428
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,400
Speaker 1: township's over a million dollars worth of fruit every single day.

429
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,080
Speaker 1: But back in two thousand and six, drug cartels, who

430
00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:25,879
Speaker 1: are feeling the pinch of a law enforcement crackdown, started

431
00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 1: turning their attention to Tansataro's avocado producers. So of course

432
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 1: things get insane, right like the growers quickly become the

433
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 1: target of threats. They're kidnappings, even some murders. There was

434
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,160
Speaker 1: a talk of the cartel season control of the orchards entirely,

435
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,399
Speaker 1: and that's when the avocado producers decided to ban together

436
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,520
Speaker 1: and fight back. They created their own local protection force,

437
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,720
Speaker 1: which was half funded by the government, and today they

438
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,720
Speaker 1: wear a body armor, they carry these high powered weapons

439
00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: to ward off the cartels and also it gives the

440
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,199
Speaker 1: citizens a sense of safety. I mean, this sounds scary

441
00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,760
Speaker 1: to me and kind of extreme, but actually it's worked.

442
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:05,440
Speaker 1: So avocado crimes are way down in Tansatura, which has

443
00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,520
Speaker 1: allowed the town to once again focus on what it

444
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 1: does best, which is avocados, And in twenty thirteen, we

445
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 1: saw this when a group of four hundred and fifty

446
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,080
Speaker 1: students in the town set a record for the world's

447
00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:19,800
Speaker 1: largest serving of guacamole, a weighed and astounding six thousand pounds.

448
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,280
Speaker 2: Oh wow, I mean, I guess it makes sense that

449
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,560
Speaker 2: they had those guards on hand, because if you think

450
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:27,480
Speaker 2: about that much guacamole is definitely gonna attract at least

451
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,080
Speaker 2: a few thieves, I would imagine. Yeah.

452
00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,600
Speaker 1: But now that we've tackled the CDI world of avocado crimes,

453
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:34,920
Speaker 1: there's at least one part of avocado history that I

454
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,439
Speaker 1: want to get to. But first, let's take another quick break.

455
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 2: Okay, mango, So I told you my favorite story. Now

456
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 2: it's your turn. What's your favorite story from the avocado history.

457
00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,520
Speaker 1: So at the top of the show, we talked about

458
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,440
Speaker 1: the recent and accidents where people have stabbed themselves while

459
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,880
Speaker 1: prepping avocados, and while there's definitely some user error at

460
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,400
Speaker 1: play there, the real problem is that the avocado has

461
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,480
Speaker 1: this enormous pit, and while most fruits contained seeds small

462
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: enough to be swallowed or excreted by humans and other animals,

463
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,400
Speaker 1: avocado pits can be as big as golf balls, which

464
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,680
Speaker 1: means that swallowing them is off the table for most

465
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:21,000
Speaker 1: of us.

466
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,160
Speaker 2: I've always actually wondered about that because from an evolutionary perspective,

467
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,679
Speaker 2: it doesn't seem like the most effective way for this

468
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:30,480
Speaker 2: plant to spread its seeds around.

469
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,320
Speaker 1: Well, it isn't anymore, but it used to be incredibly effective.

470
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 1: So the part of avocado history that I love the

471
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 1: most is the part that explains why the pit is

472
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,119
Speaker 1: so huge, and for that we actually need to travel

473
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 1: all the way back to the dawn of the Cenozoic Era,

474
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 1: which is the period after the extinction of dinosaurs when

475
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,240
Speaker 1: mammals first started to take the stage. But the mammals

476
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: of the Senozoic era weren't just any mammals.

477
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 2: They were actually.

478
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,159
Speaker 1: Enormous species known as megafauna, and they've roamed the Western

479
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:57,200
Speaker 1: hemisphere in droves.

480
00:23:58,119 --> 00:23:59,840
Speaker 2: All right, So you're talking about things like, you know,

481
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 2: sabertoothed tigers and mammoths and those rhinos that were honestly,

482
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:05,720
Speaker 2: I think they were like the size of house.

483
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: Boats, right, Yeah, that's right. So another dominant megafauna species

484
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:13,119
Speaker 1: was the lestoedon, which were these fifteen foot tall, two

485
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,639
Speaker 1: ton ground slots, and they wandered the grassy plains of

486
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: the Americas, and just like the slots of today, lustedons

487
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,919
Speaker 1: mostly eight leaves and grass to survive, but occasionally they

488
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 1: would chow on on more satisfying trees, like the tasty avocado.

489
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,119
Speaker 2: Huh so the avocado. It's also a product of the

490
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 2: cinazoic era.

491
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: It is, And actually that's really when the avocado plant

492
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,160
Speaker 1: came to its prime. So these giant slots would swallow

493
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,360
Speaker 1: whole avocados. And because these creatures were so massive, their

494
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,120
Speaker 1: digestive systems were able to process the big seeds without

495
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: a problem. So they'd kind of feast and then travel

496
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: around with the seeds and their stomachs and then they'd

497
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: PLoP them out in some far away place and new

498
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,640
Speaker 1: trees could thrive without competition. It was basically an evolutionary

499
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,399
Speaker 1: win win for everybody. And that's probably why we still

500
00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: have these large pitted avocados today.

501
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 2: Wait, are there still mammals that can eat the avocado

502
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 2: pits like that? I mean, you know, megafauna are one thing,

503
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,640
Speaker 2: but I feel like most slows would choke if they

504
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 2: tried to eat a whole avocado at this point.

505
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right. I mean, climate change kind of wiped

506
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,439
Speaker 1: out most of the megafauna in the western hemisphere. This

507
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,760
Speaker 1: was about thirteen thousand years ago, so according to researchers,

508
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,600
Speaker 1: North America lost about seventy percent of its megafauna at

509
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 1: the time, and South America lost eighty percent. So the

510
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 1: vast majority of these large creatures that helped these avocado

511
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,439
Speaker 1: trees flourish in the first place, we're no longer around

512
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:31,720
Speaker 1: to feed on them.

513
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 2: So I don't get it. I mean, why would wild

514
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,640
Speaker 2: avocados still produce such large pits if it's not beneficial

515
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:38,000
Speaker 2: for them.

516
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: No, it's a good question. And I was actually flipping

517
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,200
Speaker 1: through this book by Connie Barlow called The Ghosts of Evolution,

518
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,840
Speaker 1: and she says that avocado's giant seeds are what we

519
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 1: call an evolutionary anachronism. So none of today's slots could

520
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,960
Speaker 1: possibly digest to seed that large, but the big pits

521
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,479
Speaker 1: persist anyway, And as Barlow puts it, quote after thirteen

522
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,160
Speaker 1: thousand years, the avocado is clue that the great mammals

523
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,880
Speaker 1: are gone, and the truth is thanks to us. That's

524
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 1: completely fine, right, Like the avocado doesn't need to change

525
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: because it's got new champions. We've learned to deal with

526
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 1: the big seeds and spread them out in ways that

527
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 1: don't involve our digestive tracks.

528
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,480
Speaker 2: Well, I guess that makes sense. But what about those

529
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,840
Speaker 2: thirteen thousand years between the death of the megafauna and

530
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,600
Speaker 2: human cultivation of these avocados. It feels like in all

531
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,320
Speaker 2: those intervening years, the big seeds they still somehow managed

532
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:30,200
Speaker 2: to get spread around even without those giant mammals.

533
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,520
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, one theory is that squirrels and other rodents

534
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,399
Speaker 1: could have found avocados rotting on eeden on the surface

535
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,959
Speaker 1: and then buried the pits for safe keeping, and then

536
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: they'd return later and find that there were these massive

537
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,440
Speaker 1: trees that had sprowed in the place. But I also

538
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,520
Speaker 1: read an article in Smithsonian, and it suggested that jaguars

539
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 1: might have been able to swallow and digest the seeds too. So,

540
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 1: as they put it, quote, the identities of the avocados

541
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: dispersers shifted every few million years. But from an avocado's perspective,

542
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,320
Speaker 1: a big mouth is a big mouth, and a friendly

543
00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 1: gut is a friendly gut.

544
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,760
Speaker 2: I feel like those are words to live by. Mango,

545
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 2: or at least for an avocado. Really though, it's wild

546
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 2: to think that we have these giant sloughs to thank

547
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: for all of our avocado toasts and orders of chips

548
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 2: in guacamole. And you know, while they aren't swallowing avocado's

549
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 2: whole like our megafauna buddies once, did you know humans

550
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,359
Speaker 2: have planted them all over the world. So all in all,

551
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,080
Speaker 2: I feel like we've been pretty good stewards for the avocado.

552
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: Well, unlikely, it is, right, because not only is the

553
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 1: avocado pit way too large for humans to swallow or digest,

554
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 1: it can also be toxic to us. So animals like rhinos,

555
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,479
Speaker 1: which are descended from those house boat sized ancestors you mentioned,

556
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,439
Speaker 1: they can actually stomach the toxic pits just fine, but

557
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,399
Speaker 1: humans and most other mammals lack enzyme systems and livers

558
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,760
Speaker 1: strong enough to ward off that kind of toxicity. And

559
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,160
Speaker 1: in fact, there's this old South American recipe for rat

560
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,280
Speaker 1: poison that I just found that instructs the users to

561
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 1: mix some avocado pits with traditional rodent bit like cheese

562
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,640
Speaker 1: or lard, and that'll take care of the problem.

563
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 2: I do like that a little tox pit isn't going

564
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 2: to stop us from eating nearly two billion pounds of

565
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 2: avocados each year. Speaking which, how's I don't want to look,

566
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,439
Speaker 2: but how's Tristan doing over there? We're going to need

567
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:10,679
Speaker 2: to take another trip to the er.

568
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 1: No, but those avocados really aren't peeled, So why don't

569
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 1: we do a quick fact off and then we can

570
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:25,520
Speaker 1: help the poor guy out. So most people have heard

571
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:27,399
Speaker 1: that a good way to ripe an avocado's fast is

572
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,960
Speaker 1: to put them in a paper bag with like bananas

573
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,280
Speaker 1: or ripe apple. But if you're looking for more avocado

574
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,879
Speaker 1: gear and accessories, you can always purchase an avocado sock.

575
00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 1: It's ae hundred percent world bag that supposedly ripens the

576
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 1: fruit within twenty four hours, and according to the website,

577
00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: it ripens it more gently than a paper bag. Also,

578
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 1: it works as a convenient carrying sock for when you

579
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,840
Speaker 1: want to sling an avocado over your shoulder and just

580
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 1: transport the fruit and style.

581
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 2: Well, let me know how it goes if you order

582
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,280
Speaker 2: one of those. I think I'll wait on your experience first.

583
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:00,360
Speaker 2: All right, So here's a trend I definitely won't be

584
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,080
Speaker 2: indulging in, and that's the avo late. Now, this is

585
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,920
Speaker 2: an Australian specialty where you serve a latte in the

586
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 2: hollowed out husk of half an avocado. And while it

587
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,920
Speaker 2: started out as an Instagram joke at the Truman Cafe

588
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,000
Speaker 2: in Melbourne when an employee mixed coffee and milk and

589
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 2: an avocado shell, apparently customers have started pouring in for

590
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 2: the drink and other cafes have started serving it in response.

591
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,680
Speaker 1: Well, if you love avocados but hate the pits, Marx

592
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 1: and Spencer is apparently selling a cocktail avocado, so this

593
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 1: is according to the Telegraph. But the fruit looks less

594
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 1: like a traditional alligator pair, you know, the kind we

595
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 1: all know and love, and more like a zucchini. But

596
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: the big advantage, of course, is that they don't have

597
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: a seed in them. And while the fruit is grown

598
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 1: in Spain, they're apparently really hard to find. Marx and

599
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 1: Spencer only carries them in December for some reason. But

600
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:46,960
Speaker 1: maybe we'll be getting them stateside soon.

601
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,400
Speaker 2: All right. So we were talking about avocados being a

602
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 2: member of the prestigious Laurel family previously, and I was

603
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:54,720
Speaker 2: a little curious what that meant, so I looked it

604
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 2: up and in addition to the laurel reads that you

605
00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,040
Speaker 2: might get for competing in the ancient Greek games. The

606
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 2: avocado has some pretty well known relatives in the laurel family.

607
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 2: The fruit is cousins with bay leaves, sassafras, and cinnamon.

608
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 1: Oh, it's a good family to be a part of.

609
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,400
Speaker 1: So one of the strangest facts about avocados is that

610
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 1: they never ripened on the tree, so basically farmers can

611
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: plan when they want to pluck them and just store

612
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,040
Speaker 1: them up there afresh for six or seven months.

613
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,600
Speaker 2: All right, Well, here's an avocado variation that no one needs,

614
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,480
Speaker 2: and it's avocado light. It's a diet avocado that apparently

615
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 2: contains thirty percent less fat than your average avocado. Apparently

616
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 2: it's a milder taste, but it's a juicier avocado. I've

617
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,200
Speaker 2: got to say, I am avocado with fewer calories that taste

618
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 2: more watery. Just it doesn't appeal to me. But if

619
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 2: they can make an avocado zero, maybe I'll consider it. Well.

620
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 1: I think between a diet avocado and proposing with avocados,

621
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,200
Speaker 1: you truly have your pulse on the worst things to

622
00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,480
Speaker 1: do with an avocado. So I'm gonna have to give

623
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 1: the trophy to you well. Thank you very much, and

624
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: thank you guys for listening. I'm sure we've forgotten some

625
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 1: great facts about avocada. We've been looking forward to doing

626
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,600
Speaker 1: this episode because of the national obsession with avocados these days,

627
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:07,480
Speaker 1: so we'd love to hear from you. You can always email

628
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,040
Speaker 1: us part Time Genius at HowStuffWorks dot com. You can

629
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,240
Speaker 1: call our twenty four to seven fact hotline that's one

630
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 1: eight four four pt Genius, or hit us up on

631
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:15,760
Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter.

632
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening, Thanks again for listening. Part

633
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 2: Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works and

634
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,600
Speaker 2: wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do the

635
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 2: important things we couldn't even begin to understand.

636
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:41,960
Speaker 1: Christan McNeil does the editing thing.

637
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 2: Noel Brown made the theme song and does the mixy

638
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 2: mixy sound thing. Jerry Roland does the exec producer thing.

639
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 2: Gabe Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the

640
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,640
Speaker 2: research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas.

641
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: Adams and Eves Jeffcok gets the show to your ears.

642
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:56,480
Speaker 1: Good job, Eves.

643
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,560
Speaker 2: If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,

644
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:00,440
Speaker 2: and if you really really like what you've heard, maybe

645
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 2: you could leave a good.

646
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 1: Review for us. Do we do we forget Jason?

647
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:04,160
Speaker 2: Jason who

648
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: M