Nuts to the schools

Local walnut growers are breathing a little easier these days, following the announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture intends to spend $29.7 million on walnuts as part of the School Lunch Buy, a government-sponsored feeding program.

As Bill Carriere, whose Carriere Family Farms grows and processes walnuts in Glenn and Colusa counties, explained, the 2008 crop was exceptionally large; that, combined with the worldwide recession, has resulted in a 50 percent drop in prices, from about $1 a pound to 50 cents.

The government, he explained, tends to buy when prices are down—the last time was in 2004—which is fine by growers. “We don’t go to the well every year, but any little bit helps,” he said.