primitives find nuts expensive

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/115712519

Oh my.

Flaxbee (10,947 posts)

Why are nuts so damn expensive? Pecans, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts...

I really enjoy using them in meals - salads, pesto, breakfast, etc. - but at $8-10/lb for pecans and walnuts, I just don't buy much (especially because if my husband spots them, they're gone in a heartbeat - I have to hide them all over the kitchen / house to preserve them for meals).

But really - husband is from South Carolina and remembers pecan trees everywhere. It's not like they're exotic nuts -- so why so $$$?

Arkansas Granny (13,113 posts)

2. I don't know about other parts of the country, but my pecan tree hasn't given me a crop for the last two years and other people I talk to say the same thing. There are nuts on the tree now, but it has already started shedding immature pecans due to the heat and drought. We had a good rain last night so I'm hoping that will help, but the forecast doesn't look too promising for more rain or a break in the heat.

Major Nikon (4,768 posts)

9. That's pretty typical for pecan trees

If you have an ungrafted tree it may never produce well. Grafted trees will take as long as a decade before you get a good crop. Even if you have a grafted tree that is well established there will probably be more off years where you won't get much of a crop.

The empressof all (27,396 posts)

3. Yes they have gone sky high

Costco or Trader Joes are the best bets but I noticed the Trader Joes bags are getting smaller. Also check your bulk bins in the grocery store. You can sometimes save a buck or more bagging your own.

noamnety (17,837 posts)

5. Careful of the costco pine nuts

View profile

My mom got some pretty recently and they gave her pine mouth syndrome. She'd never heard of it, and it freaked her the hell out - she thought she was maybe getting warning symptoms of a brain tumor or something. (Check that they aren't from China - the costco ones were.)

msanthrope (11,774 posts)

4. I just paid 40/lb for organic pine nuts, for my yearly pesto making.

Yes. You read that right.

But the pesto is really, really great.....

grasswire (34,359 posts)

6. I buy them in bulk, and they have gone up $2-$3/pound since the first of the year

...except for almonds, which are $4.99.

Perhaps we should look to the eating habits of our Asian consumers for the answer. I just learned that 60 percent of the blueberry crop in Oregon is going to Japan because they have developed a taste for them.

That's gotta make our prices go up.

^^^one wonders if the pie-and-jam grasswire primitive's heard from snopes.com yet, concerning the demise of the late red round one.

Denninmi (2,827 posts)

7. Two reasons -- poor crops and Asian markets.

The crop on pecans was extremely bad last year, Texas, which is the largest producer, had extreme losses due to heat and drought. Even irrigated groves lost most of the nuts, the heat was too much for them. And what is produced gets snapped up by Asian consumers willing to pay $$$ for them.

Major Nikon (4,768 posts)

10. I can tell you why pecans are so expensive

It takes 8-10 years to establish a pecan orchard before they will get a profitable crop. They only produce well in very rich soil. Even after that much time, younger trees don't produce as much as older trees, and there will be many off years where they won't get a good crop.

GoCubsGo (10,037 posts)

11. Drought, honeybee colony collapse disorder, Obama.

Drought is a huge factor. At least this is much of the case for pecans, and for peanuts, which is why peanut butter is so outrageously expensive. The trees are still everywhere here (South Carolina), and in Georgia, which is catching it even worse in some places. Texas is also a huge pecan producer, and they have had issues with weather, as well. This is the third or fourth growing season in a row where it has been abnormally hot and dry. And, as was pointed out elsewhere in this thread, a lot of the pecan and other nut crops--what there is of them, are being shipped to China, where they apparently are willing to pay more for them.

Another problem is that honeybees are dying off. That only affects almonds, Brazil nuts, and cashews, as the others are predominately wind-pollinated. It's also a huge problem for a large number of other crops, including citrus.

And, of course, it's all President Obama's fault, since everything bad in this country is his fault.

although all these teabagger types will certainly try to blame the high food prices on him. Some already are.

Oh, you betcha, sweetheart.

It's all Barack Milhous's fault; ain't no disagreement here.

[Chris_]

msanthrope (11,774 posts)

4. I just paid 40/lb for organic pine nuts, for my yearly pesto making.

I'm flabbergasted.  Forty bucks? 

[JakeStyle]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amg8v5QoXqk[/youtube]

[RobJohnson]

You can sometimes save a buck or more bagging your own.

 

noamnety (17,837 posts)

5. Careful of the costco pine nuts

My mom got some pretty recently and they gave her pine mouth syndrome. She'd never heard of it, and it freaked her the hell out - she thought she was maybe getting warning symptoms of a brain tumor or something. (Check that they aren't from China - the costco ones were.)

DUmmies are always great for medical advice!

This is what I found....it's a metalic taste in your mouth that can last up to 10 days...

"Though there's no scientific proof that the metallogeusia is linked to pine nuts, dozens of reports online suggest it is. Whether they're raw or cooked doesn't seem to matter.

Munk believes something in the pine nuts affects the signaling between the taste buds and the brain. There are several well-known triggers for metallogeusia, including ingesting certain seafood toxins, zinc deficiency, strokes and, most commonly, taking ACE inhibitors for blood pressure, he says"

I wonder if her mom was taking blood pressure medication?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-03-16-Pinemouth16_ST_N.htm

[I_B_Perky]

Nuts eating nuts!!!!

[Paul Heinzman]

I'm flabbergasted.  Forty bucks? 

Holy crap! Pine nuts can be a bit spendy but if I'm paying $40 a pound for something it better have claws and come out of the cold Atlantic waters of Maine or require force feeding a goose.

[freedumb2003]

I'm flabbergasted.  Forty bucks?  :rofl:

Kirkland Pine Nuts: $29.44 for 1.5 lbs: http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Pine-Nuts-1-5-lb/dp/B003HB8D7Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343515081&sr=8-2&keywords=pine+nuts

If it's Kirkland it's Costco so you should be able to get them there for about that...

[Paul Heinzman]

Why are nuts so damn expensive?

Just read one of the threads in which DUmmies inventory their meds. Asked, answered.

[Paul Heinzman]

Kirkland Pine Nuts: $29.44 for 1.5 lbs: http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Pine-Nuts-1-5-lb/dp/B003HB8D7Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343515081&sr=8-2&keywords=pine+nuts

If it's Kirkland it's Costco so you should be able to get them there for about that...

I've seen pine nuts at Costco, but never really checked the price. A pound and a half of pine nuts is a lot of freakin' pine nuts, but if you grow basil and make a bunch of pesto to freeze I can see using that much.

Speaking of Costco nuts, they have caused me to relapse on my pistachio addiction. They sell shelled ones, but I won't buy them. Oh, no. The shells slow me down. Without the shells, I'd be looking like Omaha Steve in a month.

[Mr Mannn]

I'm not surpised DU is having a hard time finding affordable nuts.
Real men with real balls are in short supply on the left...

[Skul]

msanthrope (11,774 posts)

4. I just paid 40/lb for organic pine nuts, for my yearly pesto making.

One percenter for sure. Silly bankster. 

[Carl]

Flaxbee (10,947 posts)

Why are nuts so damn expensive? Pecans, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts...

I really enjoy using them in meals - salads, pesto, breakfast, etc. - but at $8-10/lb for pecans and walnuts, I just don't buy much (especially because if my husband spots them, they're gone in a heartbeat - I have to hide them all over the kitchen / house to preserve them for meals).

But really - husband is from South Carolina and remembers pecan trees everywhere. It's not like they're exotic nuts -- so why so $$$?

Because despite what you simple,everything should be free idiots think the grove that grew those pecans has to pay for herbicides and insecticides,keep the trees pruned,gather the product via mechanization (fuel) and comply with countless regulations/liability expenses.

They then have to be processed and warehoused,transported and stocked in a store.
Every step of the way there is profit needed to be made as well as additional expenses,none of which even starts to factor in global markets and exchange rates based on the value of the dollar.

You cretins have absolutely ZERO concept of what it costs to deliver a product and pay the bills of production,transportation and stocking.
Until you do just STFU.

[jukin]

Why are nuts so damn expensive? Pecans, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts...

Very easily answered. Thank a DEMOKRAT party member. The eoc-fascists made the delta smelt more important than kalifornia's central valley farmers and the world's consumers. Almond orchards that were 40-50 year investments got plowed under because of no water. Walnuts and Almonds will never be as inexpensive because of that. Oh well.

[formerlurker]

Holy crap! Pine nuts can be a bit spendy but if I'm paying $40 a pound for something it better have claws and come out of the cold Atlantic waters of Maine or require force feeding a goose.

That is a ton of nuts - they are very lightweight, so $40/lb is not that expensive.  


Food has gone through the roof, and will continue to rise because of poor crop season this year.    You got a freezer?  pack it now.

[formerlurker]

Ok - I take that back.   You can get pine nuts for $17/lb. 

http://www.nutsinbulk.com/raw-pine-nuts-1-pound-bulk.html?productid=raw-pine-nuts-1-pound-bulk&channelid=FROOG&utm_source=CSEs&utm_medium=GoogleShopping&utm_campaign=CSE&gclid=CKbHkJrjvrECFYao4AodGx4AWA

[Skul]

Unshelled raw, $10/lb...organic, $15....Pinon, $30.
www.nuts.com
Forty bucks, my butt. Primatives are easily seperated from their money.

[vesta111]

Unshelled raw, $10/lb...organic, $15....Pinon, $30.
www.nuts.com
Forty bucks, my butt. Primatives are easily seperated from their money.

Stock up on wild rice, I have been told this is not rice but a form of nut family.

Head up here and fight the Moose that thrive on wild rice and water plants.   Darn if this free for all diet can make a Moose healthy and 2,000 pounds then I see no reason we like the American Indian cannot thrive on this food + the Moose, deer and bear meat occasionally.

Most of our Nut products are not indigenous to main land USA.   Peanuts came from Africa and most chestnuts  came from Europe. 

Head to Middle NC and the railroad tracks that bring in the peanut crop.   Visiting one year and family decided to have a peanut boil.   4 kids with plastic bags spent a few hours walking the tracks and collecting raw peanuts that had been blown off the railroad cars bring them to a processing plant up the road. Nights the poor kids would raid the standing cars and get 20+ pounds each to bring home to boil, roast and make peanut butter. 

Now get a yen for Macadamia Nuts,   Whoo Hoo, forget the car payment, couple pounds will put you in debt.

We have 2 Oak trees and some years the trees drop huge amounts of Acorns other years just a few.   

Question can Acorns be eaten when cooked ????

[Big Dog]

Question can Acorns be eaten when cooked ????

vesta,

Yes, acorns are edible.

[RobJohnson]

Because despite what you simple,everything should be free idiots think the grove that grew those pecans has to pay for herbicides and insecticides,keep the trees pruned,gather the product via mechanization (fuel) and comply with countless regulations/liability expenses.

They then have to be processed and warehoused,transported and stocked in a store.
Every step of the way there is profit needed to be made as well as additional expenses,none of which even starts to factor in global markets and exchange rates based on the value of the dollar.

You cretins have absolutely ZERO concept of what it costs to deliver a product and pay the bills of production,transportation and stocking.
Until you do just STFU.

They also forget that tobacco grows everywhere in those areas also as they are smoking a $6 (or more) pack of smokes....

[JohnnyReb]

DAMN right nuts are expensive....over the last 45+ years, DUmmie Nuts have cost us 15 trillion dollars.

[debk]

I buy a lot of pecans and cashews. Both have gone up $3-5 per bag/container at Sam's since Christmas. 

[obumazombie]

Nuts eating nuts!!!!

Haah, you are what you eat. What's another name for a cat ?

[RobJohnson]

DAMN right nuts are expensive....over the last 45+ years, DUmmie Nuts have cost us 15 trillion dollars.

 

[vesta111]

vesta,

Yes, acorns are edible.

^5 for that link, explains so me thing I was curious about.

Hubby happend to mention to a co worker of ours that we had a huge crop of acorns one year. A few weeks later he showed up unannounced with green bags and a rake and offered to rake the lawn and remove the pesky acorns.   Hallelujah, he wanted to save us the work as he said he collects them to feed the squirrels.

I now call bull on this, he was born on an Indian Reservation in Canada 60 + years ago and I bet he made acorn flour and sold it to relatives that followed him here.  Had he leveled with me and not come up with a story about feeding the squirrels we would have been happy to have brought him all we could gather.   Darn it, I did not know people had any use for the nuts.

Last year we got very few, I hope this year like in past years it just rains Acorns, may be a way to sell them.

Thank you, thank you , now to figure out what to do with the Poke Weed growing in the yard
 

[vesta111]

^5 for that link, explains so me thing I was curious about.

Hubby happend to mention to a co worker of ours that we had a huge crop of acorns one year. A few weeks later he showed up unannounced with green bags and a rake and offered to rake the lawn and remove the pesky acorns.   Hallelujah, he wanted to save us the work as he said he collects them to feed the squirrels.

I now call bull on this, he was born on an Indian Reservation in Canada 60 + years ago and I bet he made acorn flour and sold it to relatives that followed him here.  Had he leveled with me and not come up with a story about feeding the squirrels we would have been happy to have brought him all we could gather.   Darn it, I did not know people had any use for the nuts.

Last year we got very few, I hope this year like in past years it just rains Acorns, may be a way to sell them.

Thank you, thank you , now to figure out what to do with the Poke Weed growing in the yard
 

I forgot to add that the worlds most expensive nuts are FREE, they come in on the arm of a kid that announces they are going to marry them.  The nuts come free but the cost in the long run will put you in the Poor House.