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I'm not a political person. Never have been, never will be. That's all I have to say about that. Now on to the point.
I'm not sure if there's a raw foodie out there who doesn't know about the raw almond controversy, so this message is to inform the readers who aren't in the loop.
As of September 1, 2007, all almonds produced in California will be required to undergo pasteurization, or at least that is the ruling passed by the Almond Board of California with the backing of the USDA. The ruling is a federal reaction to salmonella poisonings that occurred in 2001, in the spring of 2004 and then again in summer 2004. Even though no incidents of contamination have been reported from organic raw almonds, the Almond Board has decided that they, too, should be pasteurized.
California growers will be allowed to continue marketing their almonds as “raw” despite the fact that they will be pasteurized.
When I first heard about the pasteurization a few months back, I took what I thought to be the proper action and signed the various petitions to reverse this decision. But alas, I feel it hasn't changed the mind of the power that be. So to celebrate raw almonds final days, I have self-proclaimed on my blog August "Raw Almond" month.
For the month of August, every time I blog there will be some sort of almond-related item. Whether it be a recipe, tip, photo, news article, etc.
The First Lady enjoys almonds, I wonder if she cares if they're living or not. (04)