The price of avocados is soaring, making a single purchase feel like a highway robbery. But surely, the 40,000 lb torrent of avocados engulfed in flames positions this prized millennial delicacy further out of reach.
A bizarre scene unfolded n Thursday, December 28, when a big rig in transit from Mexico on Interstate 35E of Waxahachie caught on fire. The Texas Department of Public Safety reported the 18-wheeler and the nearly 40,000 lb delivery of avocados were swallowed in flames due to a mechanical issue with the truck. Luckily, no was injured. But, unfortunately, nothing can be said of the charred guacamole.
The highway lane was shut down for more than three hours, according to The Guardian, as firefighters raked through the avocado wasteland to put out hot spots and clear the roadway of blackened guac.
More scorched avocados occurred earlier in December, when wind and fire ravaged Ventura County, California destroying 270,000 acres of land that included 4,500 acres of avocados. According to VC Star, Ventura County, among the most top fruit-growing areas in the state, produces 34 percent of the state's avocados. At least several hundred acres of avocados were reported to have been damaged or burned. The Guardian reports avocado production is down 50 percent in California, causing a spike in costs.
Over the last 10 years, avocado foods have skyrocketed in popularity in the U.S, expanding in Europe and China as well, due to its high-fat content (the "good kind"), exalted status of so-called "superfoods," and influence of social media. ("If an 'avocado toast brunch' wasn't meticulously documented on Instagram, did it even happen?") Demand has remained at an all-time high thanks to marketing.
For cash-strapped, home-renting millennials, the avocado toast is the bane of the housing crisis. Australian millionaire famously claimed that the young generation may never own a home "when you're spending $40 a day on smashed avocados and coffee and not working."
In season, offseason, fire and wind disasters, American millennials can't get enough of avocado toast.