JL:
>I no longer feel or hear anything when "hungry". When I need to eat,
>I only feel weaker (I don't make unnecessary movements, I am unwilling
>to run or to walk fast, etc).

Some say hunger would be a feeling of energy useful in searching/obtaining
food and that feeling tired signals a need for rest. If you weren't
limiting your fruit so drasticly (as previously posted) I might speculate
that it might be something of a blood sugar problem. Well, whatever works,
eh?

>BTW, I haven't eaten an avo for weeks now (they are expensive: $1.60-$1.80
>ea).

Me niether, but for different reasons--they are still reasonable at local
farmer's market here in avo country.

There is a little story about that price. Some four or five years ago there
was a bumper crop of Hass in southern CA. Even in chain supermarkets they
were going for 4 or 5 per $ for good-sized fruit. A case bought wholesale
was $5 (ranging from 32 very large fruits to 60 smaller fruits). The
growers were losing money with such an over-abundance of harvest. At the
same time water subsidies were cut to orchardists. In the frenzy, over half
the avocado acreage in San Diago county (mostly in the north) was bulldozed
or left unirrigated (which means non-producing in an area which gets little
rainfall during much of the year). Or so it was explained to me by two
different growers. Anyway, prices have rarely been under a buck/avo ever
since. Also Aug/September is a pricy time because Hass' are in between
season and the industry is so reliant on Hass. Locally there are other
varieties which are important, but though one can occasionally find a
fuerte or larger Florida fruit in a supermarket, it is mostly Hass Hass
Hass, as I'm sure you've noticed. In any case, much of the price of an
avocado reflects the price of water in southern CA. About $2,000/month for
water during fruiting season for 10 acres of avos.

There is some hope, however--at least for those in the eastern USA. For the
longest time Calavo (a big avo brand) had been successful in lobbying a ban
on Mexican avos imports for the USA market, claiming an Mexico-endemic
destructive avo-pest would invade CA orchards (though there now seems to be
a new pest which could reek further havoc with avo prices). Well, with
NAFTA and all, the import ban was loosened to allow Mexican avos to enter
the USA through certain points in Texas and only if they were not
distrubuted in the western USA. Probably only mexican markets in USA cities
have bought these up (and may have been doing so illegally before) but
maybe things will get cheaper over time, at least in the east.

Watch for the Chilean imports in the next few months to cover the USA
off-season. They generally taste really soapy. Blehkkk. And why have
Chilean avos never been banned from importation? Maybe is has to do with
the fact that Calavo owns much of the production/distribution system in
Chile. Hmmm...

Incidently, Hawaii could easily supplement the USA avo market except that
their are strict laws about Hawaii produce not entering the mainland
because of pests. (Those Hawaiian pineapple are heavily fumigated.) The
county government is pushing for an irradiation plant on the big island so
that lichees, etc can be marketed on the mainland. I wonder if irradiated
Hawaiian avos will end up on supermarket shelves one day in the not to
distant future. MMM...yummy. ;)

Cheers,
Kirt