where do avocados come from in the us
Avocado The avocado was introduced from Mexico to California in the 19th century, and has become a successful cash crop. About 59,000 acres (240 km2) – some 95% of United States avocado production – is located in Southern California, with 60% in San Diego County.[38][39] Fallbrook, California, claims the title of "Avocado Capital of the World" (also claimed by the town of Uruapan in Mexico[40]), and both Fallbrook and Carpinteria, California, host annual avocado festivals. Avocado is the official fruit of the State of California.[41]
Olive Olives are not native to the Americas. Spanish colonists brought the olive to the New World, where its cultivation prospered in present-day Peru and Chile. The first seedlings from Spain were planted in Lima by Antonio de Rivera in 1560. Olive tree cultivation quickly spread along the valleys of South America's dry Pacific coast where the climate was similar to the Mediterranean.[28] Spanish missionaries established the tree in the 18th century in California. It was first cultivated at Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769 or later around 1795. Orchards were started at other missions, but in 1838, an inspection found only two olive orchards in California. Cultivation for oil gradually became a highly successful commercial venture from the 1860s onward.[29] In Japan, the first successful planting of olive trees happened in 1908 on Shodo Island, which became the cradle of olive cultivation.[30] An estimated 865 million olive trees are in the world today (as of 2005), and the vast majority of these are found in Mediterranean countries, with traditionally marginal areas accounting for no more than 25% of olive-planted area and 10% of oil production.[31]