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Escambia County Peanuts: Enough For 252 Million PB&J Sandwiches

The final 2013 numbers are not in yet, but in 2012 farmers in Escambia County grew peanuts on 8,414.50 acres. That’s enough for 252 million peanut butter and jelly sandwiches growing in mostly North Escambia fields, like the one pictured above on Bratt Road.

So unless you have Archibutyrophobia (the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth), read on for some more fun peanut facts from the National Peanut Board:

By the Numbers

• 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.
• The world’s largest peanut butter factory churns out 250,000 jars of the tasty treat every day.
• Four of the top 10 candy bars manufactured in the USA contain peanuts or peanut butter.
• Peanuts account for two-thirds of all snack nuts consumed in the USA.
• Peanuts contribute more than $4 billion to the USA economy each year.
• Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter.
• The average peanut farm is 100 acres.
• Peanut butter/peanut paste is the leading use of peanuts produced in the U.S. (1/2); followed by snack nuts and in-shells (1/4); and, candy and confections (1/4).
• Peanuts are the #1 snack nut consumed in the U.S., accounting for two-thirds of the snack nut market.

Consumption Facts

• The average American consumes more than six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products each year.
• 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.
• Peanut butter is consumed in 90 percent of USA households.
• Americans eat enough peanut butter in a year to make more than 10 billion peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
• The amount of peanut butter eaten in a year could wrap the earth in a ribbon of 18-ounce peanut butter jars one and one-third times.

Peanuts Made Famous

• Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA – Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
• Astronaut Allen B. Sheppard brought a peanut with him to the moon. Read about peanuts bringing good luck to NASA.
• Peanut butter was the secret behind “Mr. Ed,” TV’s talking horse. Spreading peanut butter inside the horse’s mouth created a natural talking movement every time the animal moved his sticky jaws.
• Baseball Hall of Fame’s, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Gaylord Perry are peanut farmers from North Carolina (Hunter from Hertford and Perry from Williamston).
• Former President Bill Clinton confessed that one of his favorite sandwiches is peanut butter and banana; also reported to have been the favorite of Elvis “the King” Presley.
• In Barbara Mandrell’s hit song “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” she sings about putting peanuts in her bottle of Coke. (This method of enjoying peanuts was developed by southern farm workers as a practical snack solution in the interest of time and cleanliness, plus it’s flavorful.)
• 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.

World Records

• 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.
• Adrian Finch of Australia holds the Guinness World Record for peanut throwing, launching the lovable legume 111 feet and 10 inches in 1999 to claim the record.
• In August 1976, Tom Miller, a University of Colorado student, pushed a peanut to the top of Pike’s Peak with his nose(14,100 feet!). It took him 4 days, 23 hours,47 minutes and 3 seconds.
• The Guiness Book of World Records reports that on April 3, 1973, Chris Ambrose, Clerkenwell, London, ate 100 peanuts singly in 59.2 seconds!
• According to the Guiness Book of World Records, Earl Adkins, Enfield, North Carolina holds the record for growing the largest peanut – 4 inches long! (The average length of a peanut is about one inch.)

How do you like your peanuts?

• Women and children prefer creamy, while most men opt for chunky. Click here for a creamy peanut butter smoothie recipe.
• People living on the East Coast prefer creamy peanut butter, while those on the West Coast prefer the crunchy style.
• Sixty percent of consumers prefer creamy peanut butter over crunchy.
• Peanut butter is the leading use of peanuts in the USA.
• “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.

Nutrition Facts

• Peanuts have more protein, niacin, folate and phytosterols than any nut.
• Peanuts and peanut butter contain over 30 essential nutrients and phytonutrients.
• Peanuts are naturally cholesterol-free.
• Rumor says that there’s enough mental stimulation in one peanut to produce 30 minutes of serious thinking. That may or may not be true, but peanuts are a good source of protein and the B vitamins, nutrients that help prevent “brain fatigue”
• Peanut oil is valued as premium cooking oil by cooks and chefs worldwide. Tasteless and odorless, peanut oil doesn’t transfer food flavors, has a very high smoke point (440 to 470† F.) and is high in the desirable mono-unsaturated fatty acids.
• Specially processed defatted peanuts may be ground into a flour for use in making high protein foods and beverages-, may be granulated and added to breakfast or diet bars to raise the protein levels; or may be flavored to taste like other foods.
• One of the many great advantages of peanuts and peanut butter is long shelf life. If held at average ambient temperature without great change in heat or humidity, peanuts and peanut butter can be safely stored for several months.
• Peanuts contain no cholesterol. Recent studies show that the combination of monounsaturates and polyunsaturates such as are found in peanuts may be helpful in reducing cholesterol levels in the body.

In our Language

• Goober—a nickname for peanuts—comes from “nguba”, the Congo language name for peanut.
• “Peanut Gallery” 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.

Pictured top: Peanuts are harvest just before Christmas on Bratt Road. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.