About 94% of American homes have at least one jar of peanut butter in the pantry and chances are you have grown up eating the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But have you thought about how that creamy goodness gets to the grocery store shelf? What about all of the people who are involved in creating such a nutritious product and how peanut butter impacts the world?
It Begins Underground
The journey starts with the hard work of America’s peanut farmers. Ensuring the soil is in tip-top shape is a critical way farmers prepare to plant. It takes about 10 days for the seedlings to break through the earth. With 30-40 days of good moisture, the plants will begin to flower.
Who’s Behind Those Plants in the Field?
Across the American South, peanuts are well on their way to developing the peanut buttery flavor and nutrition we all love. While 7,500 farming families are tending to their crop, others also help to ensure they’re growing high-quality peanuts that sustain their farm, their community and people like us across the country and the globe.
Out of the Ground and Off the Farm
Each September and October, peanut farmers from Virginia to New Mexico walk their bright green peanut fields, so full that the rows planted carefully in the spring are barely distinguishable. A farmer’s mind is busy; judging and anticipating the best time to harvest.
From Manufacturers to Your Home
As we continue on our Journey of a Peanut Butter Jar, the peanuts come to their next stop – the manufacturer – for whom quality and consistency are critically important, no matter how big or small.
Peanut Butter: Fighting Hunger and Saving Lives
So many of us love peanut butter for its great taste, nutrition or just for the wonderful childhood memories we get when we bite into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You may not realize that peanut butter helps make ends meet for thousands of people who use food banks in the United States, and that peanut butter is also part of life-saving treatment for malnourished children.