Should you prefer almonds from California or from Europe?

In the last article I already reported about one of my favorite nuts: the almond. There I explained to you what the bitter almonds are all about, which you can find from time to time in your activated 2DiE4 almonds. Blog article on Bitter Almonds

Today, I'd like to show you why you did EVERYTHING right in every way when you bought our activated 2DiE4 almonds. Curious? Then check it out here:

Almond farming in California

The almond tree is originally from the Middle East and Southwest Asia and has been native to Europe for thousands of years. However, it is not native to the Americas. The first specimens arrived in California with immigrants beginning in the 17th century.

Today, almonds in the U.S. are grown primarily in the "Central Valley" in California. It is the largest almond growing area in the world with huge plantations where 75-80 million (!) almond trees grow in monoculture. Monocultures bring many difficulties, such as diseases of the trees and one-sided leaching of the soil, so that many pesticides and artificial fertilisers are used. These are not only found in the almonds and then enter our organisms this way, but of course also harm the whole region.

Irrigated almond orchards in California

Originally, the Central Valley region was considered ideal for almond cultivation: a warm, dry Mediterranean climate and a reliable water supply through irrigation. However, in these times of climate change and recurring droughts, it is becoming apparent that the Central Valley has major problems. Since it rains little there, but the almond trees need a lot of water, valuable water is used to irrigate the plantations and is thus not available to the people of the area. In addition, the water is transported "out of the country" in this way, as the majority of Californian almonds are exported.

In addition, California almond farmers are increasingly forced to leave their almond orchards fallow, causing the trees to die because the water is too little and too expensive.

Migratory beekeeping in California

Another insanity of almond farming in California is called migratory beekeeping. It sounds kind of nice at first: like a shepherd leisurely moving through the area with his flock. In practice, however, this method is more than questionable. Let me explain why.

Almond trees depend on pollination by bees. Since almost no other flowering plants grow in the Central Valley except for the huge monocultures, beekeeping is not possible there. The bees simply would not find food outside of the almond bloom (which lasts about 2-4 weeks).

Therefore, every spring, just before the almond blossom, about 1.5 million bee colonies from all over the U.S. are packed onto flatbed trucks and transported to the Central Valley. These long journeys mean huge stress for the animals. Once they arrive in California, the busy bees have to pollinate millions and millions of almond blossoms, many of which are contaminated with pesticides. The fact that this harms the animals is usually completely disregarded. Once the flowering period is over, the bee colonies - if they have survived - are loaded up again and carted off to the next "work station". For example, to the huge apple orchards in Washington. Thus they move from monoculture to monoculture and their labor is shamelessly exploited. In addition, the different locations increase the risk of diseases that can so easily spread among the bees.

Cheap almonds from California

Due to mass cultivation and mechanical harvesting, Californian almonds are quite cheap. And that even though they have to be transported halfway around the globe until they reach our supermarkets. In Europe, where harvesting is mostly done by hand, small farmers or growing cooperatives can hardly withstand the price pressure.

Better to buy Californian or European almonds?

With everything you've read so far, you're probably almost a little queasy. Well, I certainly have. In the meantime, I couldn't even buy almonds that come from California, because I would immediately think of all the ecological disadvantages.

In this respect, the question actually answers itself: with regard to the ecological disadvantages, you should make sure that you only buy almonds from Europe. If they come from organic cultivation, the world is a little bit better.

Advantages of activated almonds

And if you choose activated almonds from 2DiE4 Livefoods, you have ALL the advantages together:

• We buy our almonds exclusively from small organic farming cooperatives in Spain. Here, the almond trees are grown in mixed crops and are not artificially irrigated. There is no migratory beekeeping.
  Link to blog article "Almonds"
• Activated almonds are rich in freely available minerals compared to raw almonds. Anti-nutrients have been broken down during the activation process.
  Link to blog article "What are activated nuts?"
• In addition, activated almonds contain all the heat-sensitive, valuable ingredients in full, which have been lost in roasted almonds.

Decision made on what you buy next time, or 😉?