News broke last week about our USA ban on Mexican avocados. At first I thought this was for sure fake news… but it’s not. I can’t for the life of me understand why we’re so worried about avocados when there’s so much more going on in the world. So, in true “Ask Heather” fashion, this left me wondering, “How do we save the avocados?”

According to the internet (which we know is always true… facts right), President Joe Biden banned avocados from Mexico, “until further notice,” after a U.S. inspector was recently threatened. On the eve of the Super Bowl (Feb. 12) — the day pricey avocado ads (fought for for almost a decade) were set to air — Biden announced a temporary suspension of all imports of Mexican avocados. The ban follows news of a plant inspector being threatened while in Mexico. Reportedly, avocado exports are the latest products being caught up in drug trafficking and drug cartel turf battles, coupled with the extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan — the only Mexican state fully authorized to export to the U.S.

The temporary ban arrives after Mexico’s Agriculture Department released a statement about the inspector being threatened. They said, “U.S. health authorities made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone.” It’s stated that this ban will greatly affect its industry, which sees an annual $3 billion in exports. The U.S. Embassy says it’s proactive in “working with the Mexican government to guarantee security conditions that would allow our personnel in Michoacan to resume operations.”

After some intensive research, and knowing what I’ve done already in the past, here’s how you can stock up and save some of these yummy healthy green goodies without breaking the bank as prices rise, quickly. Something we’re seeing a lot these days, ugh.

If you have half an avocado, you can do these two little things to save it for the next day…. This is just a quick fix if you have a half that you want to save!
First Method: Cut your avocado in half and fill a glass or plastic container near full with water. With the flesh-side down, place the avocado in the container, cover, and place in the fridge. This will keep the avocado from turning brown for about another two days.
Second Method: Squeeze a little lemon juice on it. Be sure to remove the pit first always!

For ripe avocados, place them in your refrigerator for 2-3 days to keep them fresh. If your avocado isn’t quite ripe, leave it out on your countertop. Over the next 4-5 days, your avocado will ripen and be ready for you to enjoy. I like to keep a ton in the fridge and just take a few out for the week. They last way longer if kept in the drawer in the fridge.

If you’re interested in keeping them for months, I did find some great information on that. I’m definitely going to try them out!
First Method: One website said that someone froze whole avocados in a freezer sealed bags for 4 months and they were like new when she pulled them out. She sat them in warm water to defrost (inside the bag) and it was like a fresh one, months later.
Second Method: Other people chopped them first and froze them in smaller bags, which also makes sense. You can chop one up and have single use packets at your disposal. I was also told by my amazing graphics designer, Michelle (who creates all these amazing blog post graphics for you), that she freezes the single serve spreads you can buy from the store, thaws one at a time, and those are just fine after being in the freezer.
I did see however that you should only freeze ripe avocados, and/or freeze them to your preferred level of ripeness. So why is this ban happening? Honestly, we’ll never really know the reason. We can’t listen to the news anymore, lol. We just have to live and take each day as it comes and stop and taste the avocados, even if they are frozen now.

Be sure to check out my blog post on avocado smoothies if you’re looking for more ways to use yours!

XOXO,
Heather