The 2020 UF/IFAS Peanut Butter Challenge collected just over 27,000 pounds of peanut butter across 53 counties, all of which will fill participating counties’ food banks this holiday season.

This year marks the first in which the event fully expanded beyond the Florida Panhandle, where it has been held annually since 2012. The only county outside the Panhandle to participate previously was Indian River in 2019.

The premise of the event is simple: From Oct. 1 until the day before Thanksgiving, participating counties collect jars of peanut butter, often with plenty of help from the local community and organizations. At the end of the event, the collections are tallied, bragging rights earned, and the jars are distributed to local food pantries to feed neighbors in need during the holiday season.

This year’s top collector has some experience: Escambia County, with 2,191 jars weighing in at 2,867.5 pounds. The county’s collection is further boosted by an additional 2,880 jars, generously donated by a pair of local farmers, Rodney and Mike Helton.

“The Peanut Butter Challenge continues to raise awareness of the importance of the state peanut industry, and helps provide a healthy product to families who do not have easy access to nutritious food,” said Libbie Johnson, agricultural agent for UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County and co-organizer of the Challenge since its inception. “Our communities come through year after year with tremendous responses to our calls for peanut butter donations, and we thank them.”

Peanut butter is an ever-popular item in food pantries for its nutrient density and shelf stability. The project’s expansion this year was partially inspired by the increased demand for food bank assistance as an economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

County coordinators of the Peanut Butter Challenge also shared some success stories:

• Jefferson County had tremendous community participation, but specifically noted a small private school, Aucilla Christian Academy, for collecting an astounding 593 pounds in just two short weeks. The pre-K through fifth-grade classes competed to collect the most peanut butter. The winner, Mrs. Heslin’s fifth-grade class, collected 92 pounds.
• A Levy County school, Bronson Elementary, posted on Facebook that students were running a peanut butter drive. As the UF/IFAS Extension office later found out, they were collecting the peanut butter as part of the Peanut Butter Challenge. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade “Eagles Helping Eagles” group managed to collect 875 pounds. This astounding collection helped give Levy County the narrow lead in the UF/IFAS Extension Northeast District, just four pounds ahead of runner-up Alachua County.
• Okeechobee County’s 4-H clubs used this as their community service learning project for the first half of the 4-H year. The Okeechobee County Schools food service department received the donated jars, which will go to local families at its next mobile food distribution event.

  

• The director of UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County shared his amazement at his community’s support: ifas.ufl.edu/pinellasco/2020/12/10/peanut-butter-challenge.
• Suwannee County’s local Farm Bureau donated $500 worth of peanut butter to the Challenge, along with an additional $125 worth from county stakeholders.
• Walton County gives credit to its Sheriff’s Department, local county offices, and Food For Thought for contributing to the county’s collection effort. A sweet story about this year’s 4-H Peanut Butter Youth Champion for 2020 in Wakulla County: com/UF_IFAS/status/1333829743079264257.
• Citrus, Collier, Orange and Martin counties also noted some humorous incidents of finding complementary items in their peanut butter donation boxes: jelly, crackers, and even a jar of cookie butter! These were not included in the collection totals.

By the numbers

• 53 participating counties
• 27,043.6 total poundage collected
• 20,107 total jars collected

• All told, this year’s Peanut Butter Challenge can make nearly half a million peanut butter sandwiches!

-30-

The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
ifas.ufl.edu | @UF_IFAS

0