Overview

Cultivating a healthier future: that’s the aim of the California almond industry – for our farmers, our communities, the environment, and for people around the world. 

First, we’re pioneering and adopting on-farm practices aimed at reducing impacts and increasing productivity focusing on the areas of water efficiency and groundwater replenishment, on-farm climate solutions like whole orchard recycling, and supporting biodiversity via pollinator habitat and in-row cover crops. These practices benefit local environments while helping us be more equitable stewards of shared natural resources and minimizing the negative impacts of food production for those who live nearby. With an equal focus on increased productivity, we’re working to support the economic health of farmers, their employees and our local communities.

Looking outside of our immediate region, we’re also working to transform the food system by reducing on-farm waste and finding novel, high-value uses for crop coproducts, including upcycled food. This supports our communities and local environments by getting more “bang” for our environmental “buck.” 

Finally, via the marketing, communications, and trade access efforts of the Almond Board of California, the almond industry is working to increase global consumption of almonds – a nutrient-dense plant-based protein key to healthy diet recommendations around the world.

Key actors

• 7,600 California almond farmers, over 90% of which are family farms and 70% 100 acres or less

• 100 almond processors who purchase almonds from the state’s farmers, sizing and sorting them before selling to customers in 100+ countries

• Agronomic, environmental, nutrition and food safety researchers who design and execute research funded by California’s almond industry, improving production and increasing consumption

• Extension professionals share results of agronomic research with growers, lending credibility and answering questions

• Almond Board of California staff who oversee industry strategy and investments, and translate and distribute research insights into actionable grower guides and consumer marketing materials

Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission

The EAT-Lancet Commission’s 2019 report outlines five strategies for achieving a Great Food Transformation; our progress aligns with four: 1)  boosting plant-based food consumption; 2) shifting focus for producing abundant food to healthy food (specifically for human consumption); 3) increasing high-quality farm output with greater water efficiency and adoption of climate smart practices while supporting biodiversity; and 4) reducing food waste. 

We’re measuring progress on these efforts via global almond shipments, grower adoption metrics collected via the California Almond Stewardship Platform (covering nearly half of industry acreage), and increases in productivity (pounds per acre) and acreage.

For more information contact: Danielle Veenstra at dveenstra@almondboard.com