National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month

By Cynthia M. (clariail)

Have you ever noticed that there seems to be special recognition extended to everything under the sun nowadays? Seems like everything has it own special day, week, or month for a festival, news articles (serious and goofy) etc.

Recently I was asked how I felt about “peanut butter” and if I would be interested in submitting a blog entry for, wait for it, “National Peanut Butter Month!” Who knew! Well, maybe some of you did but I certainly didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I like peanut butter, creamy not so much the crunchy. Love peanut butter cookies and have the occasional PB&J sandwich. Maybe that’s why I heard them on the weather channel talking about PB&J sandwiches and whether they were grape or strawberry users. Me, strictly grape.

I decided to google National Peanut Butter month and found lots of interesting facts. Since we don’t want to run anyone off, I will only share a few. Well, maybe more than a few because I thought they were pretty interesting.

A Little PB History:
Back in November 4, 1895, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (of Kellogg’s Cereals) applied for the first peanut butter patent. Ninety-five years later, American Southern Peanut Growers celebrated this event and made November 4, 1990 the First Peanut Butter Lovers Day.

Five years later, on the 100th birthday of the sticky, gooey, tasty peanut butter, PB Lovers Day became Peanut Butter Lovers Month! The jelly is optional.

Per the National Peanut Board website:

PEANUTS & PEANUT BUTTER FUN FACTS
Fun Facts

• It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
• There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
• By law, any product labeled “peanut butter” in the United States must be at least 90 percent peanuts.
• Peanut butter was first introduced to the USA in 1904 at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis by C.H. Sumner, who sold $705.11 of the “new treat” at his concession stand.
• Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a physician wanting to help patients eat more plant-based protein, patented his procedure for making peanut butter in 1895.
• Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA – Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
• Grand Saline, TX holds the title for the world’s largest peanut butter and jelly sandwich weighing in at 1,342 pounds. Grand Saline outweighed Oklahoma City’s 900 pounds peanut butter and jelly sandwich in November 2010. Oklahoma City, OK had been the reigning champ since September 7, 2002.
• Tom Miller pushed a peanut to the top of Pike’s Peak (14,100 feet) using his nose in 4 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes and 3 seconds.
• As early as 1500 B.C., the Incans of Peru used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life.
• Americans were first introduced to the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in 1928.
• Peanut butter was the secret behind “Mr. Ed,” TV’s talking horse.
• Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
• Ever wonder where the term “Peanut Gallery” comes from? The term became popular in the late 19th century and referred to the rear or uppermost seats in a theater, which were also the cheapest seats. People seated in such a gallery were able to throw peanuts, a common food at theaters, at those seated below them. It also applied to the first row of seats in a movie theater, for the occupants of those seats could throw peanuts at the stage, stating their displeasure with the performance.

Consumption Facts
• The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he/she graduates high school.
• Americans consume on average over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut butter and peanut products each year.
• Americans eat enough peanut butter in a year to make more than 10 billion peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
• Women and children prefer creamy, while most men opt for chunky.
• Peanuts contribute more than $4 billion to the USA economy each year.
• Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter.

George Washington Carver Facts
• Dr. George Washington Carver researched and developed more than 300 uses for peanuts in the early 1900s.
• Dr. Carver is considered “The Father of the Peanut Industry” because of his extensive research and selfless dedication to promoting peanut production and products.

Nutrition Facts
• The peanut is not a nut, but a legume related to beans and lentils.
• Peanuts have more protein, niacin, folate and phytosterols than any nut.
• Peanuts have a higher antioxidant capacity over grapes, Concord grape juice, green tea, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, carrots and many more.
• Peanuts are naturally cholesterol-free.

Who knew there were so many holidays related to Peanuts?

March – National Peanut Month
March 8 – National Peanut Cluster Day
April 2 – National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
June 12 – National Peanut Butter Cookie Day
September 13 – National Peanut Day
November – National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month
November 20 – National Peanut Butter Fudge Day

I hope that you enjoyed reading some of the facts that were found. A few made me go ‘whoa!’, a couple made me chuckle. How can we celebrate the month? Eat peanut butter of course! Have you noticed one of the big stories in the news the last day or two? The cost of peanut butter is going to jump on up there since there is a peanut shortage this year.

Better hurry out and grab a few jars then you can hurry home and see if you have Arachibutyrophobia!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 9:36 am and is filed under Holidays and Special Dates, Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.