Category: Mainstream

The post a couple of days back about horseradish got me thinking about the whole “Capital of the World” thing. And of course it turns out Wikipedia has a long list of cities that call themselves the world capital of something or other. Here are the ones for crops (and one domesticated animal):

• Almond Capital of the World – Sacramento, California, Chico, California, USA
• Apple Capital of the World – Wenatchee, Washington, USA
• Apricot Capital of the World – Patterson, California, USA
• Artichoke Center of the World – Castroville, California, USA
• Avocado Capital of the World – Fallbrook, California, USA
• Blueberry Capital of the World – Oxford, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Broccoli Capital of the World – Greenfield, California, USA
• Carrot Capital of the World – Ohakune, New Zealand
• Cherry Capital of the World – Traverse City, Michigan, USA
• Date Capital of the World – Indio, California, USA
• Garlic Capital of the World – Gilroy, California, USA
• Grape Capital of the World – Lodi, California, USA
• Horseradish Capital of the World – Tulelake, California, USA
• Kiwifruit Capital of the world – Te Puke, New Zealand
• Mule Capital of the World – Columbia, Tennessee, USA
• Pear Capital of the World – Kelseyville, California
• Raisin Capital of the World – Selma, California, Fresno, California, USA
• Strawberry Capital of the World – Oxnard, California, USA
• Winter Strawberry Capital of the World – Plant City, Florida, USA

You’ll notice something of a disagreement over horseradish! Anyway, unsurprisingly perhaps, most of these places are in the US, and indeed California. So I was thinking: what would be the real Avocado Capital of the World, for example? I would vote for Antigua in Guatemala, where a couple of important varieties originated. The California Avocado Society (I think) put a plaque in the central plaza some years back commemorating the contribution of the area to the California avocado industry. The famous plant explorer Wilson Popenoe had a house there. Here’s a history of the avocado. And here’s an interesting account of avocado collecting in Guatemala. Any other ideas? What would naming a city a world capital for a crop do for the conservation of that crop?