Almonds may not be that great

[ariana]

So, almonds have become the latest craze. Almond milk sales have gone up, and I've seen an increase in recipes that use almonds. However, I recently learned that most almonds in the United States are grown in California, where there is a severe drought. Furthermore, it takes 1.1 gallons of water to grow a single almond. I thought that was crazy! Because of this, I've stopped buying almond milk, and focused on using different nuts while cooking.

I recommend others stop using almonds as well, as it is a serious environmental issue. Or, use whole almonds instead of almond milk, which uses a lot of almonds for less nutritional value than a handful of whole almonds.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

do you have an 'evidence' or links to qualify this please?
and how does this compare with other nuts. Turkey for instance has had a massive crop failure of hazelnuts this last year which will affect the world supply of them over the next 12 months.

 

[Tara]

I'm from Southern California. Yes, the drought it bad. I can't even remember the last time I saw rain. I have also been drinking almond milk for decades since I'm lactose intolerant.

I did some research. Yes, California does produce 99% of all US almonds. I didn't know that. It's also the third cash producing crop behind marijuana and grapes. I didn't know that either. I learned some new things about my state today.

http://norml.org/legal/item/california-top-10-cash-crops

The link below has information about how much water certain crops use. Broccoli uses 5.4 gallons for each head! Almonds are fifth on the list.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/02/wheres-californias-water-going

 

[ariana]

Here are some of my sources:

http://www.kcet.org/living/food/the...-is-soaring-but-is-it-bad-for-the-planet.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/almonds-demon-nuts/379244/

The Atlantic article is what I initially read. Sorry for not providing sources in my original post!