The cost per pound of hazelnuts currently limits consumption. If you want to add hazelnut flavor to cooked dishes, you can also cook simply with hazelnut oil. Exposure to the sun can speed up the skin's aging process, and hazelnuts contain vitamin E, which research has shown can protect the skin from harmful ultraviolet radiation and premature aging. Even cloned hazel bushes, with identical genetics, can grow as differently as branches on a tree, said Lois Braun of the U., co-leader of the development initiative.
She was a little worried when the Million Hazelnut Campaign began that it could raise expectations and then sour farmers for a long time if hazelnuts don't immediately produce the yields they expect. Hybrid hazelnuts, native hazelnuts crossed with European hazelnuts, are the heart of their work. The Million Hazelnut campaign, mainly in Minnesota and Wisconsin, is partly a fundraising effort and partly an advertising effort. Braun has spent the past 12 years selectively breeding and trying to clone hazel bushes for consistent production, a process she equates to trying to block the entire genetic history of a wild cat.
Hazelnuts also work quite well as flour and can be used as a tasty gluten-free alternative to wheat flour. Hazelnuts are also an excellent source of magnesium, which helps regulate calcium levels in muscles. And it's the subject of an ambitious effort to convince farmers to plant one million hybrid hazel shrubs in the upper Midwest, using the plant's deep roots to prevent soil runoff and agricultural chemicals while providing farmers with a new source of revenue. One of dozens in a row of identical 1-year-old knee-deep children, the hazel bush on the Southern Minnesota farm is the product of incalculable generations of breeding.
Turkish farmers let hazelnuts fall naturally to the ground, where they are vacuumed, then cleaned and processed. Hovel planted the hazelnuts along with blueberries and evergreens on 6 acres of a 40-acre mountainous field. Efforts to cross hazelnuts, mostly led by retired or amateur farmers, have been ongoing since the beginning of the 20th century. He spent 20 years selling and installing solar panels, at a time when it was almost prohibitively expensive for most individuals and businesses to switch to them without subsidies.
Magnesium also helps maintain bone and joint health, so eating hazelnuts is a great way to help prevent osteoporosis.
