We have become so accustomed to being able to source virtually any food we choose at any time we choose, no matter where it come from. I grew up in England, where mangoes were a mysterious tropical fruit usually mangled into artificially flavoured ice creams. Now when I visit, you can buy mangoes at every supermarket all year round.
In our nut world, though, this year has been a reminder that global abundance isn’t guaranteed. Crop shortages, civil unrest, and unseasonal weather have all affected the availability of several of our key products. When you look at where our main nuts originally came from — and who the major producers are today — it paints a fascinating picture. You see just how plugged in we are to a global food economy, and how remarkable it is that, most of the time, it still runs smoothly enough for us to get the foods we love, more or less when we want them.
Here's a summary of where our key nuts come from originally, and the main commercial players these days:
- Almonds
Origin: The Mediterranean region and Middle East
Current top producer: United States (California).
Organic top producer: Also California, but Spain and Italy have a disproportionately large share of the organic almond acreage.
Totally Nuts source: South Australia, where the Mediterranean style climate is ideal for almond orchards.
- Brazil Nuts
Origin: Amazon rainforest, across Brazil, Bolivia and Peru
Current top producer: Bolivia (followed by Peru and Brazil)
Organic top producer: Also Bolivia
Totally Nuts source: That's Bolivia 3 out of 3!
- Cashews
Origin: Northeastern Brazil
Current top producer: India and Vietnam
Organic top producer: Organic cashew production is focussed in India, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Benin. Vietnam dominates processing rather than production.
Totally Nuts source: Vietnam.
- Hazelnuts
Origin: Europe and Asia Minor (around the Black Sea)
Current top producer: Turkey.
Organic top producer: Also Turkey, but Italy and Georgia are significant producers also.
Totally Nuts source: Turkey again.
- Macadamias
Origin: Australia (Queensland and northern NSW)
Current top producer: China (fastest growth), Australia and South Africa.
Organic top producer: Mostly Australia and Kenya.
Totally Nuts source: Australia (New South Wales)
- Pecans
Origin: North America, especially southern US and northern Mexico
Current top producer: United States (Georgia, Texas, New Mexico).
Organic top producer: Organic production worldwide is minimal, but what there is is mostly in the US
Totally Nuts source: Australia (sometimes Queensland and sometimes NSW)
- Walnuts
Origin: The region from southeastern Europe down through the Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia and western China
Current top producer: United States (California) and China.
Organic top producer: Europe (Italy, France, Moldova) and California.
Totally Nuts source: California
It's easy to forget just how much goes into a simple handful of nuts - the number of different people from totally different countries and cultures, the transport, the logistics. And somehow, despite all the chaos in the world, for the most part we still get those nuts delivered and safely in our pantry.
So let's celebrate that this works! We could focus on the downside of the global economy (and there is plenty to focus on there), the chaos of the world and the global economic situation. Or, we can acknowledge that all of that is there, but choose to put our focus on how amazing it is that it works! How wonderful that I can eat a Brazil nut that came from the Amazonian forest floor, was harvested probably by a local family, and taken through larger and larger towns until it gets to the ocean. And then crosses the ocean, lands and makes its way to me. It's truly remarkable!