January 6, 2007
The war on avocados
Two press releases have wafted through the series of tubes to the top of the spam heap this morning.
The first predicts that Americans will consume 50 million pounds of avocados while watching pro football on Big Game Day. (Note the careful avoidance of the politically charged term Superbowl.) A pound per person? That's a lot of guacamole! No wonder the average Seahawks fan weighs (almost) as much as Marcus Tubbs or Floyd Womack. Kidding! Kidding!!
On the other hand, it says in the second release, Seattle is one of two dozen metropolitan centers under scrutiny by an outfit called Research and Markets for clues about the future of suburban dining. Because, dontcha know, people who live in the sticks take their cues from what from us spoiled city slickers are picking at. Beyond that Applebee's in Auburn and Chili's in Issaquah lies a culinary wasteland needing corporate confirmation that they're actually serving up those avocados in Belltown. Green goo with salsa by the bucket at Mama's Mexican, sure, and a few stray avocado slivers in all those California rolls. But where's the avocado omelet? The avocado-bacon-tomato sandwich? The avocado burger? What's wrong with Belltown, anyway? The Hass people want to know!