Here at CrowdFarming, we’re nuts about nuts. In a world where our food choices have far-reaching consequences, it’s crucial to explore options that not only benefit our health but also contribute to a sustainable future. At the heart of this nutritional and environmental intersection are nuts – small powerhouses of goodness packed with essential nutrients. Our farmers of regenerative-organic almonds from Alfonso from La Junquera, Doña Marina, Los Aires or AlVelAl are experts on the matter and have been implementing practices to regenerate the soil while growing these highly nutritious products. 

So what makes nuts sustainable?

Mareike from Fork Ranger shared with us that nuts are one of the food products we should eat more of. A group of researchers studied what we should eat so that in 2050 we can feed 10 billion people in a healthy and sustainable way. They found that on average, it’s best to eat roughly 50 g of nuts each day.

One of the reasons to eat more nuts is because of their high protein content. If you compare nuts to other high protein foods and look at their CO2 impact, nuts have the lowest impact on the climate.

Besides nuts, legumes are in a similar position: they also provide plenty of protein, but nowadays, we eat too little of them. We need to increase our consumption of these two great foods by a factor of 8. 

Luckily it’s easy to add more nuts in various ways:

• Almonds or pistachios as a snack
• Walnuts or almonds through a pasta dish
• Nuts and seeds through yoghurt or oatmeal
• Peanut butter sandwich
• Sunflower seeds on top of pasta or cooked in rice
• Cashews in a rice recipe
  
  
  

But are all nuts the same?

At Crowdfarming, we know that different types of nuts have different benefits and impacts on the climate depending on the farming practices used to grow them. Although almonds sometimes get “bad-press” due to their high water consumption, most of our almond farmers based in Spain don’t actually use any type of irrigation for their crops (what we call in Spanish “secano”)  and those who do are using eco-conscious irrigation methods such as drip irrigation etc. 

Therefore, instead of buying almonds from California in the supermarket (that do consume large amounts of water!), why not try Pedro from Doña Marina’s delicious organic and “in regeneration” almonds that haven’t required any irrigation? This is a special project because by purchasing these almonds you also participate in the reforestation of part of the farm with native species.

Check out this awesome recipe from Fork Ranger to get inspired on how you can use your CrowdFarming almonds. 

Add almonds to Tagliatelle with Pesto Rosso

This creamy pasta recipe uses ‘pesto rosso’, made from sun-dried tomatoes instead of basil. The almonds give a nice crunch and the rocket adds a bit of spiciness. You can play around with the amount of cream; if you want a lot of sauce you can add a bit more.