内容摘要：Mulato Teatro cast member Aldo Martin Cortez poses for a photo during a break rehearsal in Ticumán, Mexico, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

Mulato Teatro cast member Aldo Martin Cortez poses for a photo during a break rehearsal in Ticumán, Mexico, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

Avocado consumption has been booming in the United States over the past two decades. The amount of fruit available per person tripled to more than 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) between 2000 and 2021, federal statistics show. Avocado toast and guacamole are regular offerings not just in culinary hubs like NYC but at cafes around the Midwest and the South.Andreas Tompros holds ripe avocados grown at his avocado farm, Ridgecrest Avocados, in Somis, Calif., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Andreas Tompros holds ripe avocados grown at his avocado farm, Ridgecrest Avocados, in Somis, Calif., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)On a steep, sun-soaked hillside northwest of Los Angeles, Tompros is replanting nearly 300 avocado trees with the belief that Americans’ hunger for the fruit — and his orchard — will continue to grow.“It will come back, and I believe it will become better than it was,” Tompros, who previously ran a software company in Hollywood, said of the orchard he took over five years ago in the tiny community of Somis.

Avocado demand has also been buoyed by consumers’ growing interest in healthy fats, said Emiliano Escobedo, executive director of the Hass Avocado Board.A 2000 U.S. law created the board that collected 2.5 cents for every pound (0.5 kilograms) of avocados imported or produced in the United States. The board used the money to market avocados and conduct nutritional research, an effort that has been widely credited with making the fruit ubiquitous in supermarkets and on restaurant menus.

“It’s been really wildly successful. It generates way more money than most of these other industry boards do,” said Richard Sexton, distinguished professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis. “When you look at the growth rate in avocado consumption relative to all fruits, the difference in growth rate is dramatic.”

Andreas Tompros looks out at his avocado farm, Ridgecrest Avocados, in Somis, Calif., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)“I am looking forward to continuing to support President Trump and working closely with Secretary Kennedy in a senior policy role to Make America Healthy Again! My focus continues to be on improving the health and well-being of all Americans, and that mission hasn’t changed,” Nesheiwat wrote on social media Wednesday.

The surgeon general, considered the nation’s doctor, oversees 6,000 U.S. Public Health Service Corps members and can issue advisories that warn of public health threats.In March, the White House pulled from consideration the nomination of former Florida GOP Rep.

to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His skepticism on vaccines had, and he withdrew after being told by the White House that he did not have enough support to be confirmed.