What is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month?
This November, we are excited to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lovers Month — the perfect time to satisfy all of your peanut butter cravings. We love this creamy and sometimes crunchy concoction so much we need an entire month dedicated to our affection for this delicious delicacy. We’ve collected some fun peanut butter facts and ideas that are sure to help you celebrate to the fullest.
History of National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month
The invention of peanut butter has long been falsely credited as belonging to George Washington Carver, who was an inventor and also a scientist determined to improve the welfare and nutrition of America’s farmers. This is partly because Mr. Carver was a huge proponent of peanuts as a source of protein and energy, and created a list of foods and recipes for farmers to use that were centered around peanuts.
But Carver did not actually invent peanut butter. By the time he was advocating for peanuts as a supportive, alternative crop (around 1916), peanut butter had already been popularized. In fact, in 1840 a New Yorker named Rose Davis started making peanut butter after her son saw Cuban women grinding the nuts and spreading them on bread. Additionally, evidence has surfaced that Aztecs may have even done something similar as early as the 15th century.
But, the first person credited with creating peanut butter was a French-Canadian man named Marcellus Gilmore Edson, who created it in 1884. Fourteen years later, Kellogg (the man of cereal fame) created the first streamlined process to mass produce the product and it was quickly considered a snack for elite society members as it was served as a protein source in wealthier hospitals. Since then, it’s grown to be more widely available, with PB&J becoming the official sandwich of, well, everyone who wants a quick, affordable, and protein-filled snack.
