Almond
Almonds are very tasty and popular, but unfortunately, their cultivation is extremely water-intensive.
Copyright Egon Krogsgaard
More almonds are being eaten now than ever before.
Almonds are increasingly used for a wide variety of things. They are eaten raw or with sugar as roasted almonds. They are used in cooking and baking. Almond oil is made by pressing almonds, and marzipan is made by mixing finely chopped almonds with sugar, glucose, and water.
The cultivation of almond trees through the ages
The almond tree was brought to America by Spanish monks, and today 80% of the world's almonds are produced in California.
Almonds pose a major enviromental problem
Growing almonds in California is not without problems. Almond trees are very water-consuming, and it requires about 4 liters of water to make a single almond.
Groundwater is increasingly used for watering almond plantations and other crops in California, causing the groundwater to disappear at an alarming rate. As an example, the amount of groundwater disappearing in California during 2012 to 2013 corresponded to the water consumption of the entire population of Denmark for 70 years.
Fact box:
- Greenhouse location: Mediterranean house
- Danish name: Almond
- Latin name: Prunus amygdalus
- Family: Rose family / Rosaceae
- Natural habitat: Asia