I might be the last to have heard this but apparently cashew nuts are not ethically sound, I’ll go into why later, but this got me thinking about nuts in general. I avoid almonds already because I’m aware of how much water is used to produce just 1 almond, but there are loads of different nuts; Are they all problematic? Just how eco-friendly are nuts in general?
Nuts are complicated. They’re especially good for those of us on a vegan diet because they’re a great source of protein, but too many nuts can cause intestinal issues and lots of people are allergic to them. Anyway, this article isn’t about the health benefits, or potential health problems, of nuts, I want to know if there are any nuts I should be avoiding for environmental reasons.
At this point I should explain why we also have to take into account the ethics of buying a product. Being eco-friendly goes hand in hand with being ethical. For example the Fair Trade Standards “comprise both minimum social, economic and environmental requirements, which producers must meet to be certified, plus progress requirements that encourage the continuous improvement of farmers’ organisations or the situation of estate workers.” – Fairtrade FAQ’s
You’ll notice that throughout this article I’ve used both the term Fairtrade and put “fair trade” in quotation marks. This is to differentiate between products which use the official Fairtrade logo and products which don’t pay to use the logo but are still paying fair wages etc. Check out the reasons Real Food Source don’t use the Fairtrade logo for why I’ve included this distinction.
How Eco-Friendly Are Nuts? Summary
This has been an incredibly difficult article to research. Waterfootprint.org don’t appear to provide the figures for all the nuts I’ve mentioned, so I’ve included water usage figures from an alternative source as well – Healabel.com. I wasn’t sure how accurate Healeabel.com was as they state that the water footprint for 4 different nuts is exactly the same. However for the majority of nuts, except Brazil nuts, the order of highest to lowest water usage is the same as that for waterfootprint.org. I would say that where they have them, I trust the figures from waterfootprint.org more.
The table has been ordered from highest to lowest water footprint using the figures from healabel.com as they had information about all of the nuts.
* Water Footprint m3 per ton refers to the global average water footprint of green, blue and grey water combined. Both the water footprint m3 per ton and grey water figures are from waterfootprint.org.
** Water Footprint; litres per pound and CO2e footprint kgs per 1 kg are from healabel.com
Definitions
Water Footprint – “The water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use.” – Waterfootprint.org
CO2e – “A carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2 equivalent, abbreviated as CO2-eq is a metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming potential (GWP), by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential.” – eurostat
Green, Blue and Grey Water – “Green refers to rainwater, blue is the surface and groundwater used for irrigation, and grey is the freshwater used to disperse fertilizer and pesticides” – National Peanut Board
I’ve included separate figures for grey water in the table above purely because that refers to fresh water and also gives us an indication of pesticides used.
How Eco-Friendly Are Different Nuts? More Detail
There are some affiliate links in this article. I may earn a small amount of money, at no extra cost to you, if you purchase something.
All affiliate links below are to Suma WholeFoods products. I contacted them to ask about any “fair trade” policies they have… “We supply both Fairtrade certified and non-Fairtrade certified products. Where commodities like nuts are not certified then we still have a significant supply chain questionnaire, audit and occasional inspection to check for environmental protections and workers’ rights.”
Are all of these actually nuts? Well no, and a pedantic person is likely to point out that almonds, peanuts, cashews, pecans and even pistachios are not technically nuts. However as you will find pretty much all of these ‘nuts’ called nuts in food shops around the world, and as most people refer to them as nuts, they’ve been included below. (What are nuts?)
1. Almonds
To produce 1 pound of almonds, 7302 litres of water is used, making them the nut with the biggest water footprint. It actually takes 5 litres of water to produce just 1 almond! They also have the largest CO2e footprint of all the nuts listed.
The majority of almonds are grown in California, a very dry place, so producing almonds there seems so strange considering how much water is required. It’s for this reason that I don’t buy almonds any more and why I wouldn’t ever drink almond milk (I also hate the taste of nut milk to be fair). Thankfully there are numerous alternative plant milks.
Almonds are one of the nuts that I think should be avoided. “Fair trade” and organic almonds are obviously better, but the water footprint is still so high that not buying them at all would be better.
2. Cashews
In terms of their environmental impact cashews are quite water intensive. It takes around 6450 litres of water to produce 1 pound of cashew nuts! Growing cashew nuts doesn’t appear to cause any destruction to animals, soil, air or water as long as no pesticides are used. You can help to prevent any potential environmental damage by buying organic.
Regarding the ethics of buying cashew nuts…
An almost 10 year old article from The Guardian states that “More than 60% of the cashews consumed globally are processed in India. (…) Once they are harvested, the cashews are sent for processing, which takes place in factories and at workers’ homes. Shelling the nuts is labour intensive and is usually done by hand. (…) Some women were earning the equivalent of 30p a day and suffering permanent damage to their hands from corrosive liquid during handling the nuts.”
Although this article is fairly out of date, and in fact the majority of cashew nuts were produced in Côte d’Ivoire in 2020, there are still production facilities that may not put their workers health as the top priority.
Can you buy ethical cashew nuts? Yes! Just make sure you buy them from a company that explicitly states that cashew nut workers are protected or that is “fair trade”.
Page 5 of the Fairtrade Standard for Nuts for Small Producer Organizations and Traders specifically mentions cashew nuts. They state that to use the Fairtrade logo, producers of cashew nuts must ensure the health and safety of their workforce by, amongst other things, ensuring that “Workers within the processing units must be adequately protected from cashew nut liquid.” And that “Protective garments and oils must be provided by the employer.”
3. Pistachios
To produce 1 pound of pistachios it takes 5155 litres of water. It’s one of the most water intensive nuts. They’re also often grown in California, where conserving water is essential.
The CO2e footprint of pistachios is lower than a lot of other nuts. There is no known harm to soil, air, water, animals etc unless pesticides are used.
4. Brazil Nuts
The water footprint of Brazil nuts is quite high (according to healabel), taking around 4937 litres of water to produce 1 pound. However waterfootprint.org says the water footprint of Brazil nuts is very low, and in fact the lowest of all the nuts listed they had figures for. There is no known harm to air, land, soil or water as long as pesticides are not used. Ethically, the work is often low paid and very hard, potentially with long hours in the sun.
I’ve found some interesting information about Brazil nut trees. For pollination they rely on a “handful of Euglossine bee species, insect species also commonly known as orchid or long-tongued bees.” To regenerate they rely on ‘agouti’, which are rodents, to open the fruit and release the nuts inside. The agouti buries the nuts which helps them to germinate. Although the trees take around 25 years to produce nuts, they can live for up to 500 years. They can produce around 300 fruits a year, with each fruit containing up to 15 nuts.
If the agouti are not hunted, or the hunting of them is at least controlled, Brazil nuts are an incredibly eco-friendly and sustainable crop (if we’re looking at the statistics from waterfootprint.org rather than healabel.com). It’s also vital that humans don’t remove all the fruits and leave none for the agouti to bury, or eat.
5. Pine Nuts
1 pound of pine nuts takes 4937 litres of water to produce. Pine nuts are pretty sustainable, and cause no harm to land, soil, air, water and animals as long as no pesticides are used.
Ethically pine nuts have the same issues as the others in that workers are often exploited and low paid.
6. Macadamia Nuts
Both macadamia nuts and pecan nuts have very little information about their water footprint online. The only source of information I found I’m not convinced of its reliability. (See the summary table). However, they do appear to be quite a sustainable crop.
Macadamia trees begin producing nuts after only around five years and can produce nuts for up to 100 years. If you can, buy macadamias from Australia, where they are native. Producing nuts for up to 100 years “means no ploughing and that means greater soil stability, which helps protect waterways and ultimately Australia’s marine habitats.” – nativenut.com.au
The Australian Macadamia Society is also looking into more sustainable growing practices to further reduce erosion and run-off. Additionally they are aiming to reduce their use of chemical pest controls, and are even establishing nesting boxes so that native barn owls help to reduce the rodent population.
7. Pecans
“Because the roots do not go deep, pecan trees do best in areas that offer consistent moisture. Pecans that are grown in arid climates require significant amounts of irrigation to thrive.” – Foodprint.org
There is very little information about the environmental impact of pecans online, although they do appear to have a medium CO2e figure and average water footprint.
My feeling is that pecans are fairly sustainable and ethical, if they weren’t there’d be numerous articles online as there are about Cashews and Almonds.
8. Hazelnuts
It takes 4769 litres of water to produce 1 pound of hazelnuts. They have a medium CO2e footprint.
The majority of hazelnuts (around 70%) are produced in Turkey. A BBC investigation found that “the nuts are picked mainly by migrants, including children, who work long hours for very low pay.” One of the big purchasers of hazelnuts is Nutella (Ferrero). Again it’s probably worth looking for Organic / fair trade hazelnuts to reduce the possibility that your nuts are unethical.
9. Walnuts
To produce 1 pound of walnuts it takes 4209 litres of water. Walnut production does seem to be quite sustainable. It causes no damage to air, soil, water, animals etc unless pesticides have been used. If you buy non-GMO and organic walnuts you can help to prevent any environmental harm.
In terms of ethics walnuts have no major issues. However it’s hard work and workers may suffer from dehydration and sunstroke if they’re employed by unscrupulous companies. The workers tend to be low paid and many healthy and safety infractions may go unreported due to the fear of losing work. Wherever possible buy “fair trade” walnuts so you can be assured that workers are protected. This applies to all the nuts, and in fact all farm work.
10. Peanuts
With one of the lowest water footprints, peanuts are one of the most eco-friendly nuts, using just 1513 litres per pound. They also have a low CO2e footprint; in fact the lowest CO2e footprint of all the nuts listed.
11. Chestnuts
Seemingly chestnuts are one of the least water intensive nuts, using just 1500 litres to produce 1 pound. In terms of CO2e chestnuts are not terrible but they’re not great either. There is no known harm to soil, air, water, animals etc unless pesticides are used.
Please note that chestnuts are safe to eat, horse chestnuts aren’t, as they’re poisonous.
How to identify edible chestnuts.
12. Acorns
You might be surprised to see acorns on this list, well so am I. While doing research I came across an article recommending eating acorns. I’ve never seen them for sale in any shop so I was very curious. Because acorns are not commonly for sale there is no water footprint or CO2e information that I could find. However because they aren’t farmed it’s unlikely that pesticides are used and any water footprint would not include grey water.
Acorns are fairly plentiful in the UK and because of that they can easily be foraged. To be sustainable make sure you leave enough acorns for wildlife to eat and to help germinate the nut. Squirrels bury acorns and like the agouti often don’t dig up all of the nuts which allows them to germinate.
You do have to prepare acorns carefully so that any toxins are removed. After preparation you can snack on nuts and even make acorn flour to make bread, pancakes, pasta, pastries and cookies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, wherever possible buy organic and “fair trade” nuts. Unfortunately unless you buy “fair trade” nuts you are more than likely supporting a company that exploits its workers. Many of these will be immigrants, or even children, afraid to speak up for fear of losing their job. Farm work is hard work and low paid no matter where in the world you live and work.
Organic and “fair trade” products do tend to be slightly more expensive. This makes it difficult for those of us with very little disposable income. For this reason I would recommend avoiding almonds due to how water intensive they are to produce and their high CO2e footprint; and cashew nuts, because of the toxic oils which cause real damage to the workers, and because of their high water footprint.
Nuts are a good source of protein and have many other health benefits so I don’t believe we should stop buying them altogether. We can only do our best and avoid the worst offenders. At the same time we need to put pressure on companies to ensure they responsibly source their products.
If you like what I do and want to support this website, you can buy me a ‘coffee’ which helps with the running costs of the website. Alternatively come and say hello on facebook, twitter or pinterest.
Additional Sources
https://healabel.com/
Brazil Nuts, eco-friendly cash crop
Water Footprint of Peanuts
Water Footprint of Different Crops
Are Brazil Nuts Really Sustainable?
How Much Do You Know About Your Nuts?
Cashew Nut Workers
World Fair Trade Organisation
Macadamia Nuts
Cashew Nuts
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Your article correctly states “Please note that chestnuts are safe to eat, horse chestnuts aren’t, as they’re poisonous.” but the picture labelled as a chestnut directly below this shows a horse chestnut!
This article is full of errors on the areas of production, consumption etc . Some examples 1. you are telling a story about cashew nuts that is 10 years out of date. Most cashews grow in Africa, most are processed by machines now. No cashews anywhere are irrigated and most grow in arid regions.
2. With regard to hazelnuts you mention the “usual issues” but in fact hazelnut farm labour is one of the most controversial issues with many Syrian refugees and children involved.
3. Brazil nuts are referred to as a “farmed crop”. Brazil nuts are not farmed. They are gathered from the wild. What farmer would plant a tree that does not give a crop for 25-35 years?
When you post incorrect information you damage the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in some of the poorest countries. You can also help sustain unethical and damaging practices. You should take this post down until it has been corrected in line with the reality. Please be responsible and do not use outdated and online sources.
I always appreciate feedback, and any mistakes in my articles I’m more than happy to correct. What would be incredibly helpful is if you supplied your sources for your ‘facts’ so that I can properly research the information you’ve provided and therefore correct the article with the appropriate information. It’s very hard for me to conduct research based on unsourced information. I look forward to you providing your sources so my article can be improved. Thank you for contacting me.
This article is an absolute gem. I’m a vegetarian with an environmental science degree, and it’s dang hard to make sustainable, ethical, affordable AND nutritious choices these days. I’ve been struggling finding good protein sources and knew about the water use of almonds so I literally googled “most environmentally friendly nut” and found this article. This author has done an unimaginable amount of work doing the research that I would have deemed essential. I am so grateful that they did this so now I do not have to. Though I likely will since this article was so interesting, but I can do my grocery shopping first. 🙂 I write reviews way less than I should, but I absolutely had to say how much I appreciated this high quality article. Author please keep doing what you’re doing.
Keyword NUTS. Peanuts are NOT NUTS. Interestingly, ALMONDS AREN’T EITHER 🙂
Hi Rico, thanks for your comment – you obviously didn’t spot this sentence in the article “Yes, I know peanuts are not technically nuts, however you often find them in packs of ‘mixed nuts’ and they’re commonly mistaken for nuts so that’s why they’ve been included.”
I live in a U.S. county that is heavily dominated by the hazelnut industry. The growing of these nuts has a HUGE negative impact on the environment. The farmers first completely change the hydrology of the area by installing drain pipes (known as “tiles”) throughout. This creates unnaturally strong water flows over into the streams that impacts everything that lives there. Once the trees are established they use chemicals to keep the ground completely clear of any living thing. They also spray a LOT of anti-fungal because these trees are prone to fungal issues. Whenever it rains (and this is in Oregon, so it rains a lot) all of those chemicals along with the naked top soil is washed into our waterways. When nuts are ripe they fall to the ground. At harvest time, they drive a machine that sweeps up the nuts, also throwing the chemical-laden dirt hundreds of feet into the air, where it is caught by the wind and spread for miles. I’ve looked in our creeks and rivers for the animals that should be there and I have never found them below the hazelnut and grass-seed farms (grass-seed is another horror crop, usually grown by the same families).
Please tell these farmers to figure out better ways to farm!