If Chestnuts Use Less Water Than Almonds, Why Don't We Eat Them?

California grows around 80% of the world’s almonds, and each nut takes an estimated one and a half gallons of water to grow. Meanwhile, chestnut trees on European hillsides have fed entire villages for centuries on nothing but rainfall. So why are almonds in every grocery aisle, while chestnuts only show up for two weeks around Christmas? In this video, we dig into the forgotten story of the chestnut. It’s a tree that once covered the Appalachian Mountains by the billions, until a fungus discovered at the Bronx Zoo in 1904 wiped out an estimated 3 to 4 billion American chestnut trees. We also look at why chestnuts are so hard to sell today: they’re 40 to 50% water, they spoil like fresh produce, and they can’t be harvested by the machines that made almonds a global superfood. Then there’s the twist. Chestnuts are barely nuts at all, and they behave more like a grain that grows on trees. If you’ve ever wondered why we eat almonds and not chestnuts, how the chestnut blight changed American food, or which nut tree might be better suited to a hotter, drier future, this one’s for you. ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:00 The thirsty nut vs. the rain-fed nut 1:09 Do chestnuts just taste worse? 3:22 The fungus that killed 4 billion trees 5:17 Why chestnuts spoil like potatoes 6:57 The harvest problem almonds solved 7:37 Chestnuts aren’t really nuts 10:16 Can we bring the chestnut back? 🔔 Subscribe for more videos on the strange science behind the food we eat, and the food we don’t. 📚 References: Gleick, P. (2015). The California Drought: Almonds and the Bigger Picture. Pacific Institute. https://www.gleick.com/blog/the-calif... Warmund, M. (2009). Purchasing and Roasting Chestnuts for the Holidays. University of Missouri Integrated Pest Management. https://ipm.missouri.edu/meg/2009/12/... Science Friday. The American Chestnut. https://www.sciencefriday.com/segment... American chestnut, overview of the blight, the American Chestnut Foundation and the Darling 58 project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America... The American Chestnut Foundation. https://acf.org University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry, chestnut growing and market resources. https://centerforagroforestry.org The History of Chestnuts in Corsica. Corsica Tours. https://www.corsicatours.com/en/inspi... China Dominates the Global Chestnut Market. WITA (2021). https://www.wita.org/trade-news/china...