Pound for Pound, Peanut Butter Saves

by | Oct 22, 2019 | 2019, Environment, Family and Consumer Sciences, Food Preparation, Health and Safety, Money Management, Nutrition

Delicious, nutritious, and super helpful for today’s needs, peanut butter is a great addition to your shopping cart. But it’s more than just a tasty and healthy food that also helps those in need (more on that below). Pound for pound, peanut butter saves.

Nutty for Peanut Butter
Photo Source: Angela Hinkle

Compared to a pound of ground beef, a pound of peanut butter saves:

  • Money at the grocery store. A pound of peanut butter currently comes in at around $2.50. A pound of ground beef will run you around $3.82.
  • Time. It takes about 2-3 minutes to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A burger at home will take you anywhere from about 8-15 minutes to prepare.
  • Environmental costs. If you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch instead of a hamburger, you can save 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide, 133 gallons of water, and 24 square feet of crop land.
  • Saturated fat. That’s the kind that tends to clog up arteries and cause health problems. Eating the PB&J gives you about 3 grams. You consume about 10 grams of saturated fat in a 90% lean quarter pound hamburger.
  • Utilities. No gas, coals, or electricity is required to cook or safely store peanut butter.
  • Hunger. Families in hardship situations often need help from food pantries. The most requested item from these pantries is – yes, you guessed it – peanut butter. It is shelf stable so you don’t have to worry about keeping it cold or heating it up. People like it. And it is a healthy plant-based food with fiber and oleic acid – a healthier monounsaturated fat.

Maybe you’re like me – you like a really good, juicy all-beef burger. Every once in a while, sure. But pound for pound, peanut butter really can save the day.

Here’s how you can help with the local hunger part:

  • Buy peanut butter. Look for BOGOS (Buy One Get One Free Sales). Keep one for yourself. Then…
  • Now through November 27, donate unopened jars of peanut butter for the Peanut Butter Challenge. Check with your Florida Panhandle UF/IFAS Extension Office for collection sites.
  • All collected peanut butter will be given to local food pantries to assist hungry families in need.

So save, save, save with peanut butter. And help save a family from hunger.

Check out 2019 Peanut Butter Challenge for additional information.

Resources:    https://foodtank.com/news/2013/12/why-meat-eats-resources/  and  https://www.farmprogress.com/peanut/peanut-s-environmental-footprint-stretches-beyond-farm

Angela Hinkle
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