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Gastropod

Ripe for Global Domination: The Story of the Avocado

1/27/202647 min

We’re coming up to AvocadoFest 2026, otherwise known as the Super Bowl, when Americans get fully a fifth of their annual avocado allocation. But how did this humble fruit, originally named after testicles, get from its Mexican forest home to a tattoo on Miley Cyrus's upper arm? This episode, we unravel the avocado's amazing journey, a story that involves not only conquistadors and cartel violence, but also a Southern California postman and actress Angie Dickinson lounging in a white leotard. And we discover where the avocado is headed next—a place where it's known as the butter fruit, and ofte...

Clips

NAFTA Talks Turned Fights
The Ripening Room Revolution
Cartels Target Green Gold
Michoacán’s Avocado Transformation
Avocado Toast And Class
China’s Butter Fruit Boom
Militias Protect The Orchards
Why Avocados Struggled Early

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Nicola Twilley· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] All right. I'm in my kitchen, Cynthia, and I feel as though it's time for some lunch.

  2. Cynthia Graber· Host0:05

    I am, uh, thinking the same thing, and I have a, uh, really lovely ripe avocado here on the counter.

  3. Nicola Twilley· Host0:11

    I do, too.

  4. Cynthia Graber· Host0:12

    [laughs] Perfect.

  5. Nicola Twilley· Host0:13

    I do, too.

  6. Cynthia Graber· Host0:14

    [laughs] You might even think we planned this. [plastic rustles] Oh, come on. Don't tell me we're out of bread. That would be really bad.

  7. Nicola Twilley· Host0:21

    There's no avocado- No, here we go ... toast without the toast.

  8. Cynthia Graber· Host0:23

    Come on. [laughs] I got bread. Okay, I'm just cutting it into thin slices. [knife thuds] [timer beeps] The bread is ready. I'm just kind of laying out the thin slices of avocado on the toast. Okay, a little mashing on the bread here.

  9. Nicola Twilley· Host0:37

    Yeah, so I am so freaking bougie that I am going to put a few little pink slivers of pickled radish on mine.

  10. Cynthia Graber· Host0:46

    You have pink pickled radish ready for yours?

  11. Nicola Twilley· Host0:49

    Cynthia, I'm living that healthy Southern California lifestyle.

  12. Cynthia Graber· Host0:53

    Okay, I'm sprinkling some beautiful salt on top.

  13. Nicola Twilley· Host0:55

    Oh my God, this is so pretty. The pink on the green- [laughs] ... I feel like I could literally invite Gwyneth Paltrow around to lunch. [timer beeps] Hi, Gwyneth. Are your ears burning? We're talking about you.

  14. Cynthia Graber· Host1:07

    [laughs] Don't worry. We are not going to spend this episode talking about Gwyneth Paltrow. We are, though, going to be talking about an incredibly delicious fruit, yes, avocado is a fruit, and how it became the symbol of an aspirational lifestyle.

  15. Nicola Twilley· Host1:20

    We are Gastropod, the podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history. I'm Nicola Twilley.

  16. Cynthia Graber· Host1:26

    And I'm Cynthia Graber. So this avocado toast thing,

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