Millions Of Free Avocados Are About To Feed The People Of Philadelphia

If you love guacamole, avocado toast, and avocado egg salad, then you might remember the dark times that descended upon the U.S. over the summer, when sky-high fertilizer prices and a hailstorm that took out a significant portion of Michoacán, Mexico's crop of the creamy green fruit led to a (brief) avocado shortage (via Fortune). Well, all of a sudden we've been whiplashed back into avo plenitude: There's a surplus of the crop in the South America, per WMMR, and trucks of the stuff are parked and ready in Philadelphia, where the organization Sharing Excess is about to give out free avocados to anyone who wants one (or several).

The nonprofit was founded in 2018 with the goal of diverting fresh food from landfills and currently redistributes more than 120,000 pounds of food each week from markets and grocery stores that would otherwise throw it out to the city's food banks and pantries (via its official website). And this week, Sharing Excess will gift millions of free avocados to anyone in the Philly area that wants some (per WMMR).

According to Philadelphia radio station WMMR, South American avocado-producing countries are currently experiencing a glut of the fruit — a glut that has led to three truckloads of avocados arriving in the city, ready to be distributed by the food rescue organization Sharing Excess. The nonprofit, which works with Philly wholesalers, grocery stores, and restaurants to pick up excess or cosmetically damaged fresh food that would otherwise end up in a landfill and donate it to area food banks and community organizations (via its official website), got its hands on millions of avocados. The beloved fruits will be distributed at three events at South Philly's FDR Park on Wednesday, October 19, Thursday, October 20, and Friday, October 21, from 12 pm to 6 pm, or until supplies last (via WMMR).

Sharing Excess founder Evan Ehlers, a former student of Philadelphia's Drexel University, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, appeared on WMMR's "The Preston & Steve Show," where he told listeners many avocados have already been donated to area food banks and pantries, but that there were millions left over and the fruits need to find homes before they spoil. He also clarified that there's no set limit on the number of avocados individuals can claim.

We foresee a lot of guac and chips parties going on in Philadelphia this weekend.