The Bottom Line: Learn something new about peanuts and peanut butter!
The Full Story:
- George Washington Carver was known as the “plant doctor” and the “grandfather of peanuts”. Though he didn’t invent peanut butter, he discovered many ways to use peanut and innovative farming methods, including crop diversification and soil conservation.
- It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- By law, any product labeled “peanut butter” in the United States must be at least 90% peanuts.
- The average peanut farm is 100 acres.
- Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA – Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
- Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon. Read about peanuts bringing good luck to NASA.
- Former President Bill Clinton says one of his favorite sandwiches is peanut butter and banana; also reported to have been the favorite of Elvis “the King” Presley.
- There are six cities in the U.S. named Peanut: Peanut, California; Lower Peanut, Pennsylvania; Upper Peanut, Pennsylvania; Peanut, Pennsylvania, Peanut, Tennessee; and Peanut West Virginia.
- According to Little Brownie Bakers, cookie bakers use about 230,000 pounds of peanut butter per week to bake Do-si-dos and Tagalongs.
- Peanut butter cream is deposited onto Do-si-dos at the rate of 2,800 cookies per minute.
- According to the National Peanut Board, women and children prefer creamy, while most men opt for chunky.
- They also say that people living on the East Coast prefer creamy peanut butter, while those on the West Coast prefer the crunchy style.
- “Boiled peanuts” are considered a delicacy in the peanut growing areas of the South. Freshly harvested peanuts are boiled in supersaturated salt water until they are of a soft bean like texture. They are most frequently enjoyed at the end of the day with a favorite beverage.
- Goober—a nickname for peanuts—comes from “nguba”, the Congo language name for peanut.
- Peanuts are sometimes called “ground nuts” or “ground peas” because peanuts grow underground.