Nuts to you

The unshelled story on the nutty side of our food supply 7

This post marks the launch of our new food-advice column Checkout Line, by talented, funny, and food-obsessed Lou Bendrick. Ever get confused in the supermarket, wondering which "all-natural" label is legit? Ever wonder what you'd actually say to a farmer at a farmers market, or whether organic is better than local, or how you can stretch your dollar when you're buying for the whole family? Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night by writing us at groceries@grist.org.

Dear Checkout Line,

I love nuts, but I am always wondering what their origin is, since it rarely says on the can. What nuts are grown in the USA? What is nut season? Where can you find organic nuts?

Sincerely,

Karen Carlson

Dear Karen,

Hazelnuts are filberts too. Photo: Steffen Zahn via Flickr
Hazelnuts are filberts too? That's just nuts.
Photo: Steffen Zahn

What a super question! Nuts are not only a tasty, healthy, on-the-go treat, but also an excellent source of puns and digressions, some of them quite ribald.

Just between us, I get "moody" (read: nine-headed monster) when my blood sugar dips, and I couldn't get through the day without handfuls of nuts. In the spirit of research, I recently ate a gluttonous amount of cocoa-dusted, chocolate-covered almonds.

I must admit, though, I gave little thought to origins of my nuts until your inquiry came across my screen. Since then I've been munching and pondering, Where do all these nuts come from (a question usually reserved for the House of Representatives)?

So, with the help of Mr. Tucker Hill at the Northern Nut Growers Association, I ascertained that the following common nuts can be grown in the USA: almonds, chestnuts, hazelnuts (filberts), walnuts, macadamias, pine nuts, pistachios, and pecans (actual natives!). Peanuts and soynuts (technically legumes but considered nuts) can also be grown in here.

But because they can be grown here doesn't mean they are grown here. The chocolate-covered almonds I gorged upon were, in fact, Spanish. Although the labels on the cans, jars, and bulk bins that contain nuts may not tell you the country of origin, they will give you enough information to do some sleuthing. (Sigh. Such is the role of the consumer today.)

One place to find truly homegrown nuts (aside from the Appropriations Committee) is a local farmers market, where you might find interesting cultivars or regional nuts (here in New England we get hickories, butternuts, and black walnuts). Although such growers might not be certified organic, they may eschew many of the dubious pesticides often used on nuts.

Seasonality, in a nutshell: Most nuts are harvested in the late summer or fall (just ask any squirrel!). This makes sense when consider that a nut is the dry, hard-shelled seed or fruit from certain trees or shrubs.

To find organic nuts, ask your local grocer to carry them specifically, if they don't already. (My mantra about piping up: Remember that your fine question is a form of demand, and demand drives the market!) Because you mentioned cans, I'll note that Planters, whose top-hatted, monocled mascot is recognized by most of us, now offers organic nuts; look for their organic cashews (too tropical to be grown in the USA, as are Brazil nuts, FYI) and organic mixed nuts.

Failing that, try the internet. LocalHarvest's vast database might help you find nearby nuts, or you can use their catalog to order organic, domestic nuts. There are also many online retailers. One I like is Jaffee Bros., which carries both domestic and imported certified organic nuts. Speaking of online sources, if you are wont to indulge in digressive internet searches (as I am), you won't be surprised to learn that a search on "nuts" in YouTube will yield many sophomoric videos pertaining to testicular pain.

Lastly, for free un-sprayed nuts, consider the atavistic thrill of foraging for wild edibles. Be sure to find a reputable foraging guide and remember, never, ever, eat anything you can't identify. That's just nuts.

I am,
Lou Bendrick

Lou Bendrick is a former contributor to the High Country News Writers on the Range syndication service whose freelance work now appears in various publications.

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  1. PermieWriter's avatar

    PermieWriter Posted 2:49 am
    09 Jul 2008

    Almondvore's dilemnaAlmond's are a tough case for me. They're tasty, versatile and they're grown mostly right here in Northern California. But they're a big part of the whole agro-industrial system that's killing the bees. I suppose one could limit their consumption to uber-sustainable acorns like the ones grown in Davis's Village Homes.

    Eat what you grow, grow what you eat

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  2. GreenEngineer Posted 3:18 am
    09 Jul 2008

    killing beesTrue that, although (as far as I know) the bees being effected are mostly the industrial have-bees-will-travel operations.  These commercial pollinators are essential to the current structure of the industry, and that's a problem.  But they are not, as far as I know, compromising the wild bee population.
    Information to the contrary is, of course, most welcome.

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  3. sindark's avatar

    sindark Posted 5:04 am
    09 Jul 2008

    Almonds and beesRecently, I was surprised to learn that 80% of the world's almonds are grown in a 600,000-acre section of California's Central Valley. Since almonds need to be pollinated by honey bees (apini apis) and there is only nectar available in that area when almonds are in bloom, the bees need to be trucked in from elsewhere. Every February, more than a million hives - containing 40,000 bees - get trucked in. By 2005, it proved necessary to import a 747 full of bees from Australia for the `pollination event.'
    The mutual exposure of those two distantly separated bee populations results in the exchange of microbes and parasites. Therein may lie the cause of the North American Colony Collapse Disorder outbreak that began in 2006. Honey bees are also used to pollinate peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers and strawberries. There are dozens of others, ranging from those that simply benefit from the availability of pollinating bees to those (such as squash and vanilla) where the bees are absolutely indispensable..

    a sibilant intake of breath

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  4. PermieWriter's avatar

    PermieWriter Posted 5:23 am
    09 Jul 2008

    RE: killing beesI don't know if it's known if the Colony Collapse Disorder and other problems that seem to be the result of the almond-agro-industrial bee nexus are also killing wild bees, though those populations are certainly not as healthy as they were even recently. We have some anecdotal evidence that organic bee populations aren't being struck by CCD, but I understand that those populations are still having horrible, ongoing mite infestations.

    Eat what you grow, grow what you eat

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  5. meander Posted 2:38 am
    10 Jul 2008

    "Raw" doesn't mean raw anymoreAnother thing about almonds is that since September 1, 2007, most packages of "raw" almonds have been sterilized using either fumigation by propylene oxide (a potential carcinogen that was briefly used as a gasoline additive for racecars) or steam heating. If you want truly raw almonds, you need to purchase them directly from the grower, which is impractical for most of the country. Finally, the pasteurization rule doesn't apply to almonds destined for export (are non-U.S. stomachs that much tougher?).  This rule was forced on the USDA by the big almond companies to prevent scares about food poisoning from damaging their revenues. Personally, I think consumers should be given the opportunity to buy truly raw almonds if they want, allowing them to take the very small risk of food poisoning (almonds sit on the ground for a time after being shaken from the tree, and they can be contaminated by sloppy practices in shelling and packing plants too).
    Last year, I wrote a piece at the Ethicurean with more details on the USDA's raw almond scam and some pictures of an organic almond farm near Sacramento.

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  6. wendigo Posted 7:55 am
    10 Jul 2008

    I love almonds, but......most of the almonds available in the U.S. come from industrial farms in the San Joaquin Valley.  These industrial farms require lots of irrigation to function.  The irrigation water is supplied by reservoirs in the western Sierra foothills.  These reservoirs were created by damming rivers such as the San Joaquin...rivers that used to host huge salmon runs that are now extinct.

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  7. mtvyfan's avatar

    mtvyfan Posted 12:54 am
    11 Jul 2008

    Raw almonds can be purchased from other countries I work in an organic supermarket that has a bulk department and our customers want raw unsprayed or heat treated almonds. The way we got around the FDA (I think it stands for F**king Dumb Asses, personally) is to buy imported almonds.
    Imported almonds do not have to be sprayed or fumigated, only domestic almonds do. So request imported almonds from your grocer if you really want raw almonds.

    "For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide, to dispel the misery of the world." - Shantideva

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