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> Pistachios and walnuts use similar amounts of water, so do other things we eat like broccoli. What does this really mean though? In New England we have Walnu

> Pistachios and walnuts use similar amounts of water, so do other things we eat like broccoli. What does this really mean though? In New England we have Walnut trees growing everywhere, and no one is watering them. If anything they're locking water into the soil that would otherwise just evaporate.

wmil 9y ago
It means that we grow things in California that have no business growing in California.
bzbarsky 9y ago
Looking at https://www.weather.gov/nerfc/normals https://www.weather.gov/nerfc/normals it looks like you'd be hard-pressed to find places in New England that averages less than, say, 30" of rain a year. Problems start when people grow walnuts in places that average 10" a year....
mcguire 9y ago
Not on commercial scales. According to the wiki, California's Central valley produces 99% of the commercial crop and the US is the largest exporter and second largest producer. Also, those trees aren't locking water anywhere. They are probably releasing the same amount per tree to evaporation.
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
Those walnut trees are growing because of rainwater. They're not a problem. And if farmed nuts we're grown in similar locations, that would also be fine. But most almonds and pistachios are grown in a desert, with water extracted from ground-water aquifers. Without the wells, the almonds would not grow.
- s0rce 9y ago
  I don't think the central valley of California is classified as a desert, it may be dry in the summer but it's not a desert.
  - sizzzzlerz 9y ago
    The southern part is. Further north, it's classified as a Mediterranean climate. I'd suggest the western side is a desert as well. It's only possible to grow crops there by importing water from the northern part of the state. With out that water, it would look like dry mountains to the immediate west along I-5. It only averages a few inches of rain per year.
jlebrech 9y ago
Beef uses 4 times the amount, and pretty much all meat. Targeting almonds is disingenuous
- comicjk 9y ago
  Almonds are a particular problem because they're mostly (80% of global supply) grown in Southern California where water is scarce. I'm a vegetarian for environmental reasons, so I've switched from almonds to peanuts.
  - jly 9y ago
    Besides water, California almonds are one of, if not the largest problem facing managed honeybees in the United States, due to the the agricultural practices of this industry and need to migrate in almost 2 million hives annually (first answer here has some good details: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-almonds-are-not-vegan https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-almonds-are-not-vegan). If you care about protecting our managed pollinators, giving up almonds is a good first step. I have also switched to peanuts.
    - rripken 9y ago
      I sort of thought Almonds was _the_ reason we have migrating honeybees in the United States (or North America). In any case Zaiger Genetics have bred self-fertile Almonds that don't require bees. The trees are starting to be planted: http://www.growingproduce.com/nuts/self-fertile-almond-dominates-new-plantings/ http://www.growingproduce.com/nuts/self-fertile-almond-domin... Almond trees take a significant amount of time to mature. While orchards can be retrofitted the irrigation infrastructure is typically installed before the trees are planted. This means that the water use of an orchard currently producing almonds was probably designed in the 90s. All the new orchards I see being planted are using drip. In 2030 I suspect the water use per kg of almonds will be much lower than it is today.

wmil 9y ago

It means that we grow things in California that have no business growing in California.

bzbarsky 9y ago

Looking at https://www.weather.gov/nerfc/normals https://www.weather.gov/nerfc/normals it looks like you'd be hard-pressed to find places in New England that averages less than, say, 30" of rain a year. Problems start when people grow walnuts in places that average 10" a year....

mcguire 9y ago

Not on commercial scales. According to the wiki, California's Central valley produces 99% of the commercial crop and the US is the largest exporter and second largest producer. Also, those trees aren't locking water anywhere. They are probably releasing the same amount per tree to evaporation.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago

Those walnut trees are growing because of rainwater. They're not a problem. And if farmed nuts we're grown in similar locations, that would also be fine. But most almonds and pistachios are grown in a desert, with water extracted from ground-water aquifers. Without the wells, the almonds would not grow.

s0rce 9y ago
I don't think the central valley of California is classified as a desert, it may be dry in the summer but it's not a desert.
- sizzzzlerz 9y ago
  The southern part is. Further north, it's classified as a Mediterranean climate. I'd suggest the western side is a desert as well. It's only possible to grow crops there by importing water from the northern part of the state. With out that water, it would look like dry mountains to the immediate west along I-5. It only averages a few inches of rain per year.

jlebrech 9y ago

Beef uses 4 times the amount, and pretty much all meat. Targeting almonds is disingenuous

comicjk 9y ago
Almonds are a particular problem because they're mostly (80% of global supply) grown in Southern California where water is scarce. I'm a vegetarian for environmental reasons, so I've switched from almonds to peanuts.
- jly 9y ago
  Besides water, California almonds are one of, if not the largest problem facing managed honeybees in the United States, due to the the agricultural practices of this industry and need to migrate in almost 2 million hives annually (first answer here has some good details: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-almonds-are-not-vegan https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-almonds-are-not-vegan). If you care about protecting our managed pollinators, giving up almonds is a good first step. I have also switched to peanuts.
  - rripken 9y ago
    I sort of thought Almonds was _the_ reason we have migrating honeybees in the United States (or North America). In any case Zaiger Genetics have bred self-fertile Almonds that don't require bees. The trees are starting to be planted: http://www.growingproduce.com/nuts/self-fertile-almond-dominates-new-plantings/ http://www.growingproduce.com/nuts/self-fertile-almond-domin... Almond trees take a significant amount of time to mature. While orchards can be retrofitted the irrigation infrastructure is typically installed before the trees are planted. This means that the water use of an orchard currently producing almonds was probably designed in the 90s. All the new orchards I see being planted are using drip. In 2030 I suspect the water use per kg of almonds will be much lower than it is today.