Blog/Social Ads | “It’s Time to Eat Acorn (Again)” | Manzanita
Archaeological sites in the Middle East from 750K years ago include evidence of acorn consumption by early hominids. Some anthropologists claim that the abundance of acorn in California is why there are so few stories of famine and starvation in native Californian cultures prior to colonization.
This article was first published on Manzanita as a way to create demand for acorn flour, and as a tactic to build our newsletter list and pre-sales funnel with social advertising to the article. Newsletter numbers have increased 1000% with this ad, with a $.14 CPC across FB and Instagram.
Acorn is a Shared Global Heritage
Acorns, or oak nuts, have been one of humanity’s essential staple crops since for thousands of years. While those of us who grew up in California probably remember learning about the Native Americans eating acorn, what most of us didn’t learn is that acorn was also eaten globally, from Europe to Asia.
This is to say that if you have European or Asian ancestry, chances are that you have acorn consumption in your family tree somewhere, as it were. Where there were oak trees, there were people eating its nuts.
Why don’t we eat acorn anymore?
People do still eat acorns: they’re an important crop in Korea and China, and are consumed as specialty foods in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. And, of course, many Native Californians still harvest and eat them as a staple food. As to why most Americans don’t eat acorn anymore, there are really two primary reasons:
1) Acorns can’t be eaten off the tree. They’re full of tannins and require leaching. It’s not hard, but it is time-consuming. (If you want to try, check out these instructions on how to prepare acorn.)
2) Acorns were considered a “low class” food. Eurocentric culture has a long history of classism removing us from indigenous foodways: things that can be procured for free are seen as less desirable than things we can purchase, to the point that we Americans were convinced that canned soup was better than the chicken stock our great-grandmas made from a chicken carcass. In addition to that, American settlers were quick to distance themselves - and the indigenous tribes - from indigenous foods, farming, and harvest practices. In short, American food culture has a regrettably long history of wiping out perfectly sustainable, low-cost, nutritious foods and food systems that give back to the land. If you want to learn more, Michael Pollan covers some of it in “In Defense of Food.”
Why should we eat acorn again?
The bigger question is: why aren’t we already eating acorn again?
Acorn is delicious, nutritious, gluten-free, higher in protein than grains, and it requires no irrigation. It’s estimated that 1 trillion pounds of acorn fall and rot each year, all while corporations are monopolizing California’s water to irrigate non-native nut trees, most of which are exported. This isn’t great, and it isn’t going to last: increasing weather extremes and water conservation needs will, at some point, win out over the almonds.
So: eating food that already grows natively is a win. Protecting old growth oak forests for acorn harvets is a win. Saving trillions of gallons of water is a win. Making the best chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had with acorn flour that is low-glycemic and gluten-free is also a win.
Check out eatacorn.com for lots of acorn recipes - acorn bourbon brownies? Yes, please.
How can we eat acorn again?
Beyond harvesting your own nuts or those on a friend’s property (landowners: we have a carbon credits program and harvest agreements for passive income), it’s admittedly hard to find quality acorn flour online. We’re in the process of raising enough money to build an acorn factory, and your interest in pre-ordering the acorn flour can help make that a reality. Please sign up below and we’ll let you know when we’re ready for pre-ordering, currently slated for June 2025.
