Why I am a Vegan

[Pablísimo]

thank you for your wonderful post.

I hadn't honestly considered avocadoes.  But I could see how they could be an analogue for eggs in terms of the fat content.  I just have a few questions about practical usage:

1) are avocadoes available all year round, at a reasonable price where you live?

2) question about storage and ripening.  How often do you have to buy them, and do you just keep them on the kitchen counter as they ripen?  and then do you put them in the fridge as soon as they are ripe?  how often do they keep in the fridge for?

3) do you eat them just raw?  or can you work them into meals through cooking/combining?

Those probably sound like totally clueless questions  And they totally are.  Avocadoes are available in Sydney, but I've only eaten them maybe a few times in my life, when I was first experimenting with vegetarianism when I was 18 years old (that's two decades ago now!).  That's the only time I've ever eaten them.

Hola Plenum,

No prob at all.  I have no idea if substituting them would work for you -- but it sure solved my own "between meal" hunger issue.  They are really packed with vitamins (including most of the B vitamins so prevalent in eggs) and slow-digesting healthy fat -- so would be a good candidate to experiment with if you find yourself of a mind to try again one day.

I'm hardly an expert on this fruit, but happy to share all I can.


1) Yes, avocados are available all year round where I live in the southern US, and quite cheaply.  California produces a large amount of them for export to the rest of the country from Feb - September.  Mexico, just a bit further south, grows and exports them to this country all year round and we also get them from time to time from other places.  It wasn't always like this, but since the mid-90's or so they've been cheap and plentiful.  I'm really not sure what the situation is in Australia, but hear that nearby NZ is a big producer.  Personally, I fully intend to retire to a farm in the tropics and hope to tend my "own" trees one day.  For now, though, it's the supermarket.

2) I usually just buy a few at a time that are close to perfect ripeness.  If they are under-ripe, though, sometimes I'll stock up and leave them out on the counter up to a week.  They ripen very nicely on the counter but they stop ripening in the fridge so it's easy to control the process.  I eat exactly 1/2 an avocado per day, so I just put the other half in a container in the fridge and eat it the next day.  I don't even bother with the lemon juice trick to keep it from browning and have never noticed any flavor degradation the next day.  If you eat the whole thing you wouldn't have that problem, but I can't finish a whole avocado in one sitting unless I remove most of the rest of my normal breakfast.

3) I *personally* just eat them raw with no salt or spices, but I think most people cook with them in some fashion.  It's common to salt and slice them and put them on salads and sandwiches or else make guacamole, which is a tasty Mexican dip that is very popular and very gooood, as Icaro mentioned!  You might want to just experiment with different ways of preparation until you find what you personally prefer.

If you want to try them out, I'd suggest experimenting with the level of ripeness that you personally prefer.  I found I like them creamy but not fully ripe.  When they are too mushy and ripe I have difficulty eating them.  I also don't like them so green/unripe that it crunches.  Another important distinction is organic, which facette quite rightly mentioned.  There is just no comparison to the flavor profile.  I can really tell a difference when I eat a non-organic avocado.

In my case, for decades I actually avoided avocados and guacamole because I thought I "didn't like the taste"!  As a vegan, though, I've learned to change my attitudes towards food and see it more holistically.  A given food isn't just about flavor, and I found that I had many biases about what food I "liked" that were based on nothing other than childhood whims, hazy memories, and foolish, irrational opinions about "textures" or "colors" or some other random distortion.  I've learned to expand my food horizons and really take time to appreciate subtle flavors and all manner of vegan foods.  I now consider the practicality, sustainability, ethics, and the nutrient profile in addition to flavor.  Most importantly, I've learned to appreciate how these foods give me LIFE.  Certain foods, such as the avocado or the coconut, feel almost sacred to me.  As I eat the avocado each morning, I reflect on it and always feel a deep sense of connectedness and, frankly, *gratitude* for this daily life-sustaining fruit.  I can't help it -- some days I just want to shout "THANK YOU" for this wondrous food.  It's truly a marvel how something so nutritious, so filling and sustaining, grows from a such a humble tree.  Sometimes, I am awestruck with wonder at the beauty and bounty of this little bit of the Creation we call Earth!

P.S. Here's a great video that explains how to properly select and open an Avocado. Very good info -- the secret is the twisting motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnT78O8wBxk

P.P.S. If you are interested in finding an "egg-like" flavor, you won't go wrong with Indian Black Salt (Kala Namak). Seriously, the flavor is unbelievably close and the spice is cheap. Hmmm, I wonder what fried avocado with garlic and Kala Namak would taste like?