For being very common, walnuts are expensive!

[primalclaws1974]

Walnut trees grow everywhere in Iowa. I imagine it is the same, at least in the Midwest. They probably grow in the mountains too. My point is, they grow quickly and usually in small groves. Sometimes they are a nuisance, when the nuts fall all over the ground. For a nut that is so common, why are they so expensive? They are now about $3.50 for an eight ounce bag. That's only 4-5 servings. If I was to guess, it's either that they are only harvested commercially in certain areas, and the "wild" varieties just go to waste, or the process of picking and drying them is time-consuming and takes a lot of space. Your thoughts on this?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

You should see the price of sweet chestnuts. £4.99 for a bag of 350g! Which is currently at around the $8 mark for 350g...b now take that to a kilo and they grow wild at the side of the roads and in fields. Back in October I was picking them off the ground and bringing 10kg of more home out of their outer shells with only an hour collecting them and they are one of the lowest fat nuts there is, being starch based rather than oil and are loaded with vitamins and minerals.

At the end of the day, Cody is simply down to the fact people nowadays prefer to buy from a supermarket than source from the wild and there are farm more wild nuts out there than most people know. I personally know very few people who will eat beech nuts because they are time consuming to collect, very small and each one had a second shell to be removed.

Health benefits of chestnut

Chestnuts, unlike other nuts and seeds, are relatively low in calories; contain less fat but are rich in minerals, vitamins and phyto-nutrients that benefit health.

Chestnuts chiefly made of starch in contrast to other seeds and nuts, which are high in calorie, protein, and fat. Chestnuts nutrition composition is almost similar to that of other staple starch foods such as sweet potato, sweet corn, potatoes, plantain, etc., Nevertheless; they are still good sources of minerals, vitamins and some good-quality protein.

Nutritional information on sweet chestnuts

 

[primalclaws1974]

I don't think chestnuts are readily available in America. At least, when thinking about them I don't recall seeing them in the stores, nor people talking about them. Almonds are another nut that is outrageously expensive. An 8 ounce bag goes for about $8.00. A dollar an ounce? An ounce is only a small-sized fistful. I would like to eat walnuts (or other healthy nuts) every day, for heart-health, but I can only afford to pick them up about one in three shopping trips.

 

[Sweetkymom]

Yes, nuts in general cost an arm and leg to buy. I, too, wonder why they are so expensive when they are readily available in most rural areas on country roads. Its the matter of actually getting someone to do the job is the problem.

My husband and I live about 30 minutes away from a countryside where several variety of nuts are available along the road side. We picked up a bag full last month so we'd have a healthy snack to munch on.

 

[kamarsun1]

Walnut trees grow everywhere in Iowa. I imagine it is the same, at least in the Midwest. They probably grow in the mountains too. My point is, they grow quickly and usually in small groves. Sometimes they are a nuisance, when the nuts fall all over the ground. For a nut that is so common, why are they so expensive? They are now about $3.50 for an eight ounce bag. That's only 4-5 servings. If I was to guess, it's either that they are only harvested commercially in certain areas, and the "wild" varieties just go to waste, or the process of picking and drying them is time-consuming and takes a lot of space. Your thoughts on this?

Well there not as expensive as cashews. I guess it all depends on where you buy them from. Macadamia nuts are by far the most expensive ones that I know of. The price of nuts do go up and down from what I can see.