Almonds are said to have come from Southwest Asia and have been eaten for thousands of years. Almonds were a prized food often appearing in the Bible's Old Testament. They were brought to California in the mid-18th century by Spanish missionaries. Thanks to its blessed climate, soil, and rationalized and automated farming and cultivation techniques, California is now the world's largest almond producer. Almonds are the most highly consumed nuts in the world in terms of quantity and variety of uses.