Nut Case

While traveling through Brazil, Darin Olien discovered Baru nuts, a crunchy treasure that’s good for people and the planet in more ways than one.

- Neil Zevnik

Mention the Amazon, and you conjure up visions of flowing rivers surrounded by lush rainforests teeming with exotic flora and fauna. Legendary and well-publicized as in need of saving, the Amazon has passionate advocates who rush to find ways to preserve its glories, and rightly so.

Mention the Cerrado, and you conjure up—likely a blank stare. But the Cerrado is the world’s most biologically rich savanna. It covers more than 20 percent of Brazil, and is being deforested at an even faster rate than the Amazon.

And, no, the Cerrado isn’t as ravishingly photogenic; it can be a little scrubby and dry. One might say the Amazon is the popular princess in her sumptuous gowns, and the Cerrado is Cinderella in her ashy rags. But Darin Olien is determined that the Cerrado shall go to the Ball, and he believes that the Baru nut is the magic wand that will send her there.

Baru Nuts Are Unique to Brazil