The Avocado's Journey from Mexico to the U.S. Essay

California brings about another biblical allusion. As part of Moses bringing his people out of Egypt, he told of a promised land to where he would take the Israelites, and that land was Canaan. For the Joad’s and many other migrants, California was the promised land they were searching for. Apart from both of the promised lands beginning with the letter C, they had many things in common. “The vineyards, the orchards, the great flat valley, green and beautiful…the peach trees and the walnut groves, and the dark green patches of oranges (Steinbeck 227).” This is an allusion to the promised land of the Jews, where in Numbers 13:27 it states “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit (Zondervan 207).” Both lands were bursting with

The future of California is pretty good, for the state is projected to see growth in almost every sector of the economy as well as the population, but there are many concerns that must be addressed first in order to see California’s growth come to fruition. International trade and business is one of California’s largest industries and it’s expected to continue increasing, for many emerging economies are also located off of the Pacific Ocean. Growth in the economy is good, but requires resources that California has a limited supply of. The main resource California always needs is water, since most of the state’s population resides in the southern regions, which are arid and receive minimal precipitation annually. The state is planning on improving efficiency and the aqueduct system to increase the water supply while decrease the environmental effects California’s aqueduct’s have on regions like the San Joaquin River Delta. For many years California has been considered a very liberal and left state, which is due to the fact that the state has the toughest environmental legislation in the country. With such strong legislation ensuring the protection of the environment California has become a model state in the fight against climate change, and must remain vigilant for there are numerous species endemic to the state that are found nowhere else on the planet. Though there are numerous other factors’ affecting California’s future these are some of the most interesting areas to

From January 20 to 23, I went to Santa Fe and San Ildefonso in New Mexico with Dr. Laughlin and my classmates. I was totally surprised by the architecture of the housing and the rich collection of Native American cultures. I expected to see traditional suburbs but instead I found almost everyone has built houses resembling traditional adobe homes which I had never seen. Houses, businesses, government buildings including museums are almost built in this style. The colors seem to blend in with the desert. One of the most exciting events I attended in New Mexico was the museum presentation of the Zuni tribe. Although we actually did not meet the Zuni tribe, we learned a lot about them because Dawn Kaufmann who is a guide at the Museum of

Countries were becoming independent all throughout Latin America during the 1800s. The people of the United States expected great things of these freshly independent countries. Of these countries was Mexico, which achieved independence in 1821. Americans were excited when Mexico gained its Independence. They assumed great things were to become of the country. Mexico had an abundance of resources and even more land. Expectations became a harsh reality for Mexican California. The transition from colony to republic proved to be a difficult one. Although the era of independence can be described in so many words, it is important to acknowledge the unstable, vulnerable, exploitative aspects of Mexican California.

Hispanic Americans culture each have different dietary patterns and food. “The traditional Hispanic American diet is rich in a variety of foods and dishes that represent a blend of pre-Columbian, indigenous Indian, Spanish, French, and more recently, American culture. The Hispanic diet is rich in complex carbohydrates, which are provided mainly by corn and grain products e.g. tortillas, present at almost every meal), beans, rice, and bread) (Smith, 2010).” They diet contains a good amount of protein (beans, eggs, fish, and shellfish, pork, and poultry). Chorizo is a spicy pork sausage that is served with egg for breakfast. Hispanic American favorite fruits and vegetables are tomatoes, squash, sweet potato, avocado, mango, pineapple,

The Salinas Valley is not only one of the most fertile farming regions of California but the most fertile region in the country. According to the Vegetable Research and Information Center “...a total value of over $1.9 billion, Monterey County is the fourth highest agricultural producing county in California. The total land devoted to agriculture is approximately 1.4 million acres, and irrigated land is around 220,000 acres. As for the type of crops grown, the list contains, “…artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, Asian vegetables, lettuce, and spinach. In the county's southern half, farmers grow warm-season vegetables, including carrot, pepper, potato, and tomato. Finally, Monterey County is home to a sizable wine grape industry and approximately one-third of the state's annual strawberry yield.” Not only does the Central Coast boast a large agriculture but it also has a great selection of local flora. In the website, La Salitas Nursery, one of the famous plants is the California Chaparral. The chaparral grows great in coastal climate along the slopes of mountains in poor

Here in California, there are several Mexican supermarkets that offer almost all of the basic and essential products in making or preparing the dishes common for this culture. This is an advantage for Mexicans that reside here in California. The interviewees also mentioned that in other states, Mexican food products are scarce making it difficult for some of them to prepare the meals that they are used to eating.

This chain of production for the organic avocado continues as I determined that these avocadoes are packaged and distributed in Uruapan by a central distribution centre that was created with help through American investment into the region. After packaging, the organic Hass avocadoes I studied are shipped by truck across the border to another distribution centre operated by New Harvest Organics in Rio Rico, Arizona. New Harvest Organics then ships these avocadoes throughout North America, and in my commodity chain’s case, ships them north, again via truck, to Burnaby, British Columbia to another supplying company known as Pro Organics Distributors. Finally, from Pro

Genetically modified foods (GMO) are a necessary part of our nation's ability to keep up with the required food. They allow us to make food bigger, and last longer in order to enjoy them year round. However, “food begins to lose nutrition as soon as it is harvested.” (Source A). With this information we may begin to see the danger of keeping foods such as apples for extended periods of time; that is they lose much of their nutrition. In order to avoid eating non nutritional foods it is imperative that we eat closer to home. This will allow us to reduce the amounts of GMOs injected to foods by eating them in season and not needing them to last as long.

There are food trucks all over this great nation of ours, offering a large variety of cuisine. Preparing for a nation-wide road trip to specifically try out some of the best food trucks in America definitely sounds like a sweet deal. While you can stop off at any random fast food place or ubiquitous chain restaurant for something fried or greasy, tasting food from a very special vehicle on four wheels has not substitute.You will never go wrong with a short rib taco or burrito from Kogi BBQ in Los Angeles. Being a Mexican-Korean fusion, this is one of the most fantastic novelty food trucks. Although the line might be long, it moves along at a fine pace, having friends to chat with will help. You can try the Blackjack Quesadilla, Calamari Taco,

The acai berry is a unique fruit that mostly grows in the Amazon; this limited product is wanted

The avocado, also known as Persea Americana, is a tree that is native to Mexico and America and has an extensive history. Originating as early as 7,000 and 5,000 B.C in south-central Mexico, it would take several thousand years before avocados became native in America. According to the California Avocado Commission: “Archaeologists in Peru have found domesticated avocado seeds buried with Incan mummies dating back to 750 B.C. and there is evidence that avocados were cultivated in Mexico as early as 500 B.C.” (“The History of California Avocados,” 2016). Avocados then continued their journey from when they were first originated to being discovered in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadores. With their discovery, the Spanish conquistadores soon came to realize that they had trouble pronouncing the Aztec word “ahuacate”, so they changed it to “aguacate.” Farmers later changed aguacate to the English word we know today, avocado. Farmers changed it in fear that Americans would not be able to pronounce “aguacate” once they tried to sell the fruit. The avocado, along with it’s new name, was successful in the market as farmers would later discover. (Yoon, 2006).

Mexican cuisine is a style of food that originates in Mexico. It is known for its varied flavors, colorful decoration, and variety of spices and ingredients, many of which are native to the country. What makes a meal distinctly Mexican, of course, are the lively seasonings. Not all Mexican recipes are fiery, though; while renowned for their heat, many subtle and intriguing spice combinations are also found in Mexican fare.

Almonds are one of the most loved nuts all over the world. According to the National Writing Project, 70 percent of almonds are exported to other countries. They can be used for milk, baking, or just flavoring up any dish. Almonds are produced in sunny California. Unfortunately, California has been suffering through an atrocious drought. Almonds use a great amount of water to grow, approximately 1 gallon. (Philpott) The drought is a bad thing for almond production but also for water available to citizens as well as the other crops that farmers are trying to grow.

The market size for tropical fruit is really large, bananas being the fifth most important agricultural commodity in world trade after cereals, sugar, coffee and cocoa. Six countries (India, Brazil, Ecuador, Philippines, China and Indonesia) account for 55% of total world production. Bananas and pineapples are common fruits, on average 10 kg of bananas are consumed by each of the 350 million EU citizens; therefore it is not really