Instructions
Oath
Should we be going nuts over almonds?
Almonds have exploded in popularity in recent years due to their proposed health benefits and the growth in plant-based substitutes for dairy and meat products. As a result, it is not uncommon to see the country side covered with almond trees. While some environmentalists claim that the move towards plant-based products has been positive for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it has not come without it’s own set of challenges. In particular, almonds are notorious for being water intensive and wreaking havoc on groundwater supplies in local aquifers. In this problem, we will explore some of these challenges and consider some policy options for addressing the problem.
Note: I had grand ambitions for this problem, linking almond farming use to over exploitation of groundwater in aquifers. Unfortunately, I underestimated how hard this problem would be to solve, and in the end, I removed the groundwater portion of the problem from the exam to make it more reasonable. The consequence of this decision is that the problem I am asking you to solve is pretty mundane, inconsequential, and somewhat boring. My apologies.