Fruits and nuts

Fruit provides us with essential vitamins, minerals and fibre and, before the introduction of granulated sugar, was also our most important (and significantly healthier) source of sugar. Nuts provide us with valuable oils and a range of ingredients that have a beneficial effect on the brain and circulation. Compared to their enormous importance for a healthy human diet, the area under cultivation is extremely small: less than 5 per cent of arable land is used to grow them. Most types of fruit and nuts are not annual crops, but so-called permanent crops that grow in one place for several years, sometimes even decades, and take a long time to reach their full productivity. It often takes several years before any yield is achieved.