Peanut Butter - An American Staple

While putting together the National Day Calendar for April I discovered that National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day is celebrated in April. Probably like most people I love peanut butter which got me thinking - if you've read any of my posts this will not surprise you - how did this delicious comfort food come about.


Peanut butter actually dates back to the time of the Aztecs who mashed roasted peanuts into a paste, somewhat different from what we know of as peanut butter today. In researching info for this post I discovered that many people including George Washington Carver - although he did play a role which I'll explain as the history unfolds - were credited for the invention of peanut butter.

However in 1884 a patent was issued to a chemist from Montreal Quebec by the name of Marcellus Gilmore Edson. His patent was for peanut paste, which was the result of milling roasted peanuts between two heated surfaces, he included the mixing of sugar into the paste so as to harden its consistency and it sold for six cents per pound.

In 1895 Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (the creator of Kellogg’s cereal) patented a process for creating peanut butter from raw peanuts. Marketed for sanitariums like the John Harvey Kellogg’s Western Health Reform Institute as a healthy protein-rich food that did not have to be chewed.

Wealthy guests at those institutions popularized it among the well-heeled. But there were economic pressures to expand peanut-butter consumption more democratically. Now this new market for peanut butter substantially increased the demand for peanut harvests which is where George Washington Carver fits in, as it was he who encouraged southern farmers to adopt peanuts as a replacement crop for the cotton that was devastated by the boll weevil.

The following is a little peanut butter trivia you might find interesting.

• Peanuts are actually not nuts but legumes grown underground.

• The U.S. is the third largest producer of peanuts (Georgia and Texas are the two major peanut-producing states). China and India are the first and second largest producers, respectively.

• More than half of the American peanut crop goes into making peanut butter. 

• U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Thomas Jefferson were peanut farmers.

• It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.

• Americans eat around 700 million pounds of peanut butter per year (about 3 pounds per person).

• An average American child eats 1,500 PB&J sandwiches before graduating from high school.

Creamy, chunky or natural it really is a personal choice but no matter which style you prefer Peanut Butter is without a doubt an American staple for all ages. Oh, just in case your wondering - like me of course - National Peanut Butter Day is celebrated on the 24th of January.