Recently, I had the wonderful experience of visiting a family almond farm located in Durham, California. There were rows and rows of almond (or "am-end", as they pronounce it) trees, branches filled with white and pale pink springtime blossoms. The farmer nicely gave us a tour of the farm, showing us the various machinery involved in the almond harvesting process, the barns for storage of crops, and greenhouses holding hundreds of pots of baby plants.

Almond farming is major in the state of California, as California produces 100% of the United States’ almonds, and 80% of the world’s almonds (as of 2014). California’s fertile Central Valley provides the perfect “Mediterranean” climate and fertile soil for almond farming. 

If you’ve had an almond, it likely came from the state of California. It is a nut with many diverse uses: in trail mix or other snacks, in home kitchens, and food manufacturing. Recently, it has become very popular with a rise in motivations for healthy living & eating.

Although almonds are an extremely profitable cash crop, almond farming has definitely been met with environmental challenges. From 2011 to about 2017, California was in a drought. Almonds, requiring a very high and constant water intake, were faced with an immense problem. Because of the droughts, high prices of water have led to a vicious cycle of planting more and more trees, which requires more water and depletes the groundwater supply further. 

However, California has been working to form the solution to this predicament: through the California Almond Sustainability Program (CASP). An online portal (https://www.sustainablealmondgrowing.org/) provides resources for all almond farmers, helping them develop more cost-effective, efficient, and socially responsible practices. It also helps with informing the consumers and buyers of almonds (us!) that we are buying almonds grown sustainably. 

So, while almonds and many other grown foods are very healthy and popular, we should consider the process involved in growing, harvesting, and transporting these foods; along with environmental concerns as well.