Happy National Peanut Month!

Happy March and Happy National Peanut Month!  This holiday was created by the National Peanut
Board to coincide with National Nutrition Month…and for good reason, as the unassuming peanut is packed with nutrition. Peanut butter – a product in which more than half of all peanuts in America are used – is also given a shout-out on March 1st with Peanut Butter Lover’s Day.  Peanuts are eaten all over the world and they are, of course, a favorite American snack.  Read on for some fun peanut facts!

History

Peanuts originated in South America – likely Brazil or Peru – at least 5,000 years ago. When the Spanish and Portuguese began exploring the New World, they took peanuts back with them to Europe and from there they spread to Asia and Africa.  African slaves brought peanuts with them to North America, and peanuts’ nickname of “goober peas” comes from the African word for peanut, nguba.  Today, peanuts are cultivated in almost every area where the climate suits.

Fun Facts!

• Despite their name, peanuts are actually legumes, not nuts!  This puts them in the same vegetable family as peas and beans.
• Peanuts grow both upside-down and underground!  The plant flowers above ground, but then the flower stem bends down and pushes the “fruit” of the plant – the peanut pods – underground to grow.  This helps prevent locusts and other creatures from eating them.  Peanuts themselves – the part we eat – are the seeds of the plant.  This sets them apart from potatoes, which are underground stems, and carrots, which are underground roots.  Also, peanuts grow in a pod like a bean; they do not have a hard shell like a walnut.
• Peanuts are good for the soil.  Most notably, they fix valuable nitrogen into the soil.
• Peanuts are healthy for [most] humans, too!  They contain over 30 nutrients and vitamins, have more protein than any nut (26%), are rich in healthy monounsaturated fats, are one of the richest sources of antioxidants in the world (better than carrots, green tea, and broccoli), and have all the amino acids your body requires.
• …However, they can be quite unhealthy, too.  Peanuts have one of the most common and violent allergens in the world that, in the most extreme cases, causes anaphylaxis.  For some people, allergic reactions can be triggered by simply smelling a peanut!
• Peanuts have a place in cuisine all over the world in snacks, appetizers, main courses, and desserts.
Examples: In Israel they have a Cheez Doodle-type snack called Bamba Puffs, which are essentially peanut butter-flavored Cheez Doodles; in Africa they have peanut soup; and in the American South, dropping peanuts into a bottle of coke adds flavor (salty + sweet + fizzy + crunchy).
• Outside of food, peanuts – including their shells and skins – have many other uses, too. They are in facial creams, paints, lamp oil, shampoo, soap, explosives, lubricants for machines, wall boards, cat litter, and even paper!
• Worldwide, more than 26 million tons of peanuts are harvested per year, with the largest peanut-producing countries being China, India, and the U.S.
• The average American eats 6.6 pounds of peanuts per year in the form of snack peanuts, peanut butter, peanut flour, peanut oil and other products!  By contrast, the average American eats 3.3 pounds of all other tree nuts combined per year (as of 2007).
• Although its popularity took at least 30 years to catch on, the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe appeared in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics in 1901.  Julia Davis Chandler, the author, recommended currant or crab-apple jelly.

How to Celebrate

• Enjoy some peanuts – plain or in a variety of yummy dishes!  Recipe ideas can be found on the National Peanut Board Website.
• Try some new peanut milk.
• Tired of the same old peanut butter?  Try one of these kooky combos.
• Check out these 16 fun facts about peanuts from the National Peanut Board.
• Read some peanut-themed books!  (Suggestions below.)

Books to Read

• Fun Stories:
     o Merry Christmas, Peanut! by Terry Border (2017).
        Call Number: E BOR
     o Peanut Butter & Cupcake! by Terry Border (2014).
        Call Number: E BOR
     o Jake Goes Peanuts by Michael Wright (2010).
        Call Number: E WRI
     o Peanut Butter's Tasty Opposites by Terry Border (2016).
        Call Number: BB BOR
     o Peanut Butter's Yummy Numbers by Terry Border (2016).
        Call Number: BB BOR

• Non-Fiction Books with Facts About Peanuts and Peanut Butter:
     o From Peanut to Peanut Butter by Robin Nelson (2004).
        Call Number: E 641.3 NEL 2004
     o Life and Times of the Peanut by Charles Micucci (1997).
        Call Number: J 641.3 MIC
     o Let’s Go Nuts!: Seeds We Eat by April Pulley Sayre (2013).
        Call Number: E 641.3 SAY 2013
     o The World in Your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods by Claire Eamer (2012).
        Call Number: J 641.3 EAM 2012
     o PB&J Hooray!: Your Sandwich's Amazing Journey from Farm to Table by Janet Nolan (2014).
        Call Number: E 641.8 NOL 2014
     o Peanut Butter by Jan Bernard (2017).
        Call Number: J 664.7 BER 2017

Resources

• Eamer, Claire. The World in Your Lunch Box: The Wacky History and Weird Science of Everyday Foods. Toronto: Annick Press, 2012.
• Micucci, Charles. Life and Times of the Peanut. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.
• “Peanut Month.” Days of the Year, 2017.
• Nolan, Tom. “Mythbusters: Peanuts Remain America’s Preferred Nut.” National Peanut Board, 2018.
• U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce. “Table 212. Per Capita Consumption of Major Food Commodities: 1980 to 2007.” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010. 129th Edition.  Ed. U.S. Census Bureau.  Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009.
• “Who Invented the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich?.” National Peanut Board, 2018.

- Jennifer Crabtree, Lawrence Branch