Peanut Butter Challenge To Help The Hungry Going On Now

October 13, 2024

The Peanut Butter Challenge, an annual jar collection for local food pantries hosted by UF/IFAS Extension and Florida A&M University Cooperative Extension, is going on through the end of the month. Launched in the Florida Panhandle counties in 2012, the challenge is again spreading statewide this year.

Unopened jars of peanut butter can be donated to the following locations throughout Escambia County now until Oct. 31:

  • Escambia County Extension, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
  • Escambia County Farm Bureau, 153 Hwy. 97, Molino
  • Escambia County Public Safety, 6575 N. “W” Street, Pensacola
  • Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 10650 Gulf Beach Hwy., Pensacola
  • Gilmore Services, 31 E. Fairfield Dr., Pensacola
  • Escambia County Administration, 221 Palafox Place, 4th Floor, Pensacola

Coordinated by UF/IFAS Extension and FAMU faculty, staff and volunteers, the competition among counties – for bragging rights only – was conceived as a way to feed hungry families ahead of the holidays in addition to promoting a Florida-grown crop. The peanut, which is produced mainly throughout the northern regions of the state, contributed $137 million to the state economy in 2023, according to the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service.

Peanut butter is an ever-popular item in food pantries because of its nutrient density and shelf stability. The project took on new meaning in 2020 as it spread statewide for the first time as demand for food bank assistance had increased as an economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest numbers from the United States Department of Agriculture shows food insecurity affected roughly 12 percent of Floridians in 2023.

In addition to the community donations, the Florida Peanut Producers Association and Florida Peanut Federation have partnered with the project for years. These organizations are based in the northwest and northeast peanut-producing regions of the state and will again contribute to the totals distributed to food pantries in those regions.

Last year’s Peanut Butter Challenge collected a total of 27,769 pounds of peanut butter from 44 Florida counties.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News