I usually purchase bulk nuts at my local "health food" store, although I guess I am going to phase that out.

Notwithstanding the fact that they are "cooked & dead", I have been watching youtube vids of a couple raw food gurus that decry the use of them.

Specifically, they cite that they are dirty/contaminated with rodent feces, are a breeding haven for bugs & the like, have been known to sit around for years, and more unpleasantness...

They recommend that you purchase them prepackages to lessen the chance of all these things.

I know there are a few companies that sell "raw" nuts - guess I will start purchasing them online from now on.

Your thoughts on the subject - and where do you buy yours?

Yes, yes, haven't you heard the horror stories about JIF Peanut Butter factories? And you the parent of a teen--tsk, tsk : )

The thing is, the nuts get contaminated after harvest in storage, in the grower's warehouse. I imagine it's like "The Secret of NIMH," you know, sentient rats talking to one another about how they're gonna bunk down in your walnuts, because the mice have taken over the almond piles. Then the nuts get contaminated again in storage at the purveyor, such as a health food store. The only truly safe way to avoid most contamination(you cannot avoid all) is to buy direct from the grower on harvest days. Are any nuts grown in Pennsylvania?

I haven't bough any nuts packaged from the raw foods websites lately because they are prohibitively expensive and I've stockpiled some in the freezer. Maybe cultivate a penpalship with someone in California? : (

juicerkatz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I usually purchase bulk nuts at my local "health
> food" store, although I guess I am going to phase
> that out.
NutsOnLine.com is a good supplier of nuts and fruit.
I just ordered 5-lbs. of Organic Turkish Figs for my Mother....WY

There are hazelnut trees here. Wonder if I could get away with adding nuts to the locavore list? Doubt it.
I just soak them, almonds I pop out of their skins as I'm eating them. Can't be too paranoid about this, it all builds up the immune system after all.
Or, best yet, purchase them in their shells and crack them yourself. This is a good way to measure how many you're eating too I think. Only so many as you can crack in one sitting.

Thanks for all the replies -

WY, I will check out that link. One major prob. is that I need a fair amount of almonds for making almond milk, as that is one "raw" food that the rest of the family will partake of.

Nice reply Tamu, you should write children's stories! I will have to check if there are any growers here in PA. I have never come across any or heard of any & I have been all over this state.

I don't buy bulk nuts because they are more expensive that the bagged ones at Whole Foods! But why would they be more contaminated than the bagged ones? If there are rat feces (ew...) in a container of nuts, wouldn't some be bagged later and some simply keep free but all were contaminated? I can understand the idea of bulk stuff getting all kinds of hands making contact. I get irritated at Whole Foods when some parent isn't paying attention while their little kid is manhandling the bulk stuff, dipping in their hands,eating, dipping in again...But I also think that as a nation we are wayyy too germaphobic. I just don't think that someone touching one of your nuts (er..you know what I meant) means that it is contaminated.

Don't need them, don't buy them.

You can make banana milk.

Spraying raw almonds with a known human carcinogen, propylene oxide to avoid a risk of a pathogen, two cases out of how many million consumers? It's nuts, both literally and figuratively.

Paul

We're screwed - nothing is safe.... From contaminated nuts to formaldehyde dipped coconuts to heavily sprayed peaches, dyed lemons, sludge fertilized fields (a big problem in my area) ...nothing is left to eat...

no wonder that dude became a breatharian!

SPROUTS!
And nuts in the shell.
And growing your own garden.
Something still has to be safe. It's a scary thought that even if I avoid packaged foods, I still can't get anything natural or healthy to eat!

organic pastures sells truly raw organic almonds in bulk amounts. check their site
organicpastures.com

violetrevo

Thanks for mentioning OP; I didn't know they also sell raw almonds shipped UPS. Prices aren't bad, either. Last Year, the FDA of California dredged up some obscure commerce law to prevent OP from transporting raw dairy to states where it cannot legally be sold--I wonder how long it will be before this law is applied to O P's almonds and kombucha? [sigh]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2010 01:01PM by Tamukha.

>they are dirty/contaminated with rodent feces, are a breeding haven for bugs & the like, have been known to sit around for years, and more unpleasantness...

That's a B12 source. Doesn't bother me. Better if I could grow them myself but I am not there yet.

I put walnuts on everything. They taste great and they add something special.

I agreee with Arugula , creature (and human ) contamination can happen anywhere along the line from field to table

its shocking the number of people who dont even bother washing their hands after going to the toilet

you could drive yourself crazy just thinking about it

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I'll check out Organic Pastures. I like Living Tree Community Foods a lot. I order nuts and nut butters online from them, and have found them to be of very high quality. Their almonds and their macadamia nuts are both exceptional. Plus, they have these raw pestos that are *amazing.*

Jgunn Wrote:
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> its shocking the number of people who dont even
> bother washing their hands after going to the
> toilet
>
> you could drive yourself crazy just thinking about
> it

Did you know that if you aren't washing them for a full 20 seconds you might as well just be waving them over the soap? Seriously, try counting that out next time you scrub your digits. It's longer than you think...

coconuts,

In cooking school we were taught to sing two verses of "Happy Birthday"(silently) to make sure we were meeting the 20 second mark at handwashing : )

hehe coco an Tam i sing twinkle twinkle little star to pass the handwashing time hehe (in my head of course!)

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

We sing the "One, two buckle my shoe" song. Out loud too, never mind this "in my head" business!

coco i love yer rebelious spirit shine on !

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

[www.youtube.com]

Lyrics by Perry Como, who knew?

Coco rules!!

HI
YES THE MAJOR CONCERN about ALMONDS is a couple years ago some board declared all almonds raw, organic, conventional, all had to be pasteurized. This was a major turning point in raw, because the companies and stores do not have to provide the information on HOW They were pasteurized. There are two major ways to pasteurize Almonds from heat to chemical. In addition, many of the health food store owners are not aware of this, and it caused a sadness in the raw food community. So sometimes the supposed raw Almonds at stores are probably cooked/pasteurized with what process is a mystery. Then there is our poor friends who eat conventional Almonds.
Anyways the raw foodists got smart and had the Almonds shipped in from other countries and then yep, these Almonds are still truely raw!
We offer raw Almonds and other raw organic foods, best in the world on our site! If you can support us by picking up something! Awesome and please tell you friends about us, were sharing love and being love in action, join us all in creating the new healthy sustainable world!
WWW.THELOVECOLLECTIVE.NET
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