Whether if it’s a product of social media hysteria, collective clumsiness or both, people are increasingly slicing, dicing and otherwise injuring themselves quite badly when trying to cut avocados.

Social media is currently ripe (heh) with photos of people’s bloody hands and extremities taken in the emergency room after incorrectly cutting the fruit. So much so that the phenomenon has been dubbed ‘avocado hand’.

Even Meryl Streep had an unfortunate run-in with the wrong end of a knife in 2012 when attempting to cut an avocado and in 2015 New Zealand singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser documented her injury and subsequent surgery on Facebook resulting from an avo-related mishap.

‘Wait, what do you mean people are cutting themselves? I eat it all the time and I’ve never hurt myself.’ You might say, and you’d be right to be confused. What is it about cutting avocados that people are getting so wrong?

The avocado can be an unwieldy fruit to handle and attacking it with a sharp knife in close proximity to your hand is risky at the best of times, then there’s the seed to contend with. Do you drive the knife into its side and twist or do you try and scoop it out with the blade or even a spoon?

While you might guffaw at others with your laceration-free hands and superior cutting skills, the fact remains that many people are apparently oblivious to the fact that there is a safer way to cut an avo and so we’ve decided to help out.

Jahymi Dowel, a staff member at Market Street Cafe in Mudgee graciously agreed to show us all how to properly cut an avocado. Jahymi would know, cutting up to 30 avos a week himself for health-savvy diners.

Now that we know how to properly prepare an avocado. Let’s all take a lesson from today and enjoy everything the delicious green fruit has to offer.

#endavocadohand