AVOCADOS AS FOOD IN GUATEMALA 



A Fruit of Particular Interest at this Time When Products of Great Food Value 



Are Receiving Much Attention — Its Importance Among the Guatemalan 



Indians— Analyses Show High Oil Content 



Wilson Popenoe 



Agricultural Explorer, Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, Bureau of 



Plant Industrr. 



NORTH Americans, particularly 

 those who have been watching 

 the development of the avocado 

 industry in California and Flori- 

 da, are familiar with the statement that 

 the avocado is a fruit of "unusual food 

 value." There is no occasion for dis- 

 puting such a statement, yet it does, per- 

 haps, need to be interpreted. We 

 recognize the olive as a fruit of "unusual 

 food value, " likewise the date. Will the 

 avocado, then, take a place in our 

 national economy comparable to that 

 held at present by either the olive or the 

 date !" 



While no one can foresee the extent 

 to which the avocado will eventually 

 be used in this country, it is suggestive 

 to examine its status in other countries 

 and its claims upon our" favor. The in- 

 creasing popularity of the avocado in 

 the United States is doubly encouraging 

 when we remember that it has de- 

 veloped upon the use of this fruit as a 

 salad, almost as a luxury. If it is so 

 acceptable to the American palate that 

 it will be purchased at high prices and 

 consumed solely for the gustatory pleas- 

 ure which it produces, what role will 

 it play when it can be obtained so 

 cheaply that it will compare favorably, 

 pound for pound, with other foods as a 

 source of bodily energy and repair." 



The American palate is eccentric. It 

 may truthfully be said that it is too 

 eccentric. At the present time we are 

 making the greatest effort in our history 

 to control our eccentricity* and eat 

 things for which we have never possessed 

 a predilection or even have enjoyed, 

 because we know them to be good 

 foods and because certain other foods, 

 of which we are more fond, are needed 



by our armies and by our allies. It 

 has always been difficult to place a new 

 food upon American tables. The mere 

 fact of its being unusual — something to 

 which we have been unaccustomed — is 

 sufficient to make us turn it down, in 

 nine cases out of ten, without even 

 giving it a fair trial. Strange, is it not, 

 how obstinate we are in matters of this 

 sort ? We are willing to wear new kinds 

 of clothing — in fact we delight to do it — 

 but many of us will not try new foods. 



Yet in spite of this prejudice against 

 foods which we are not used to eating, 

 the avocado has made rapid strides 

 toward popularity. One factor in its 

 favor has been the high price demanded 

 for the fruits. The psychological effect 

 of this cannot be denied. It is difficult 

 for anyone to pay 75 cents for a small 

 portion of avocado salad, and then re- 

 fuse to eat it. And if he eats it, even 

 though he convinces himself, by an 

 elaborate process of reasoning, that he 

 does not like it, the worst of the battle 

 is over. The avocado is a new taste. 

 It is not a disagreeable taste, it is simply 

 new. Once the palate is accustomed to 

 it, a liking is soon developed, and I 

 have yet to hear of a case, where anyone 

 sampled a good avocado three times 

 and still maintained that he did not 

 like it. 



A DELICIOUS FRUIT 



As far as can be judged from the ex- 

 perience of the past ten years, Americans 

 in general are going to like the avocado 

 immensely. Probably not one per cent 

 have tasted it as yet, but among those 

 who have been fortunate enough to do 

 so there is no quo-^tion regarding the 

 popularity of this fruit. It must be 



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