It’s that time of year: going to Friday night football games, decorating with pumpkins, welcoming in some cooler weather, and harvesting our locally grown peanuts and cotton. This also means it’s time for the Peanut Butter Challenge. We collect jars of unopened peanut butter throughout the Northwest Panhandle of Florida through November 23rd. (Contact the UF/IFAS Extension office in Escambia County for details and peanut butter drop off sites.)
Peanut butter is a locally grown (okay, we don’t actually grow peanut butter, but we do grow the peanuts that make peanut butter), protein packed, tasty food that is safe to eat and store at room temperature. For these reasons, it is one of the most requested items at food pantries. After Thanksgiving, we will distribute to food pantries, churches, and other organizations that give food to hungry families in need.
Okay, so what role do socks play in this? Cotton, another great locally grown agricultural product, is used to make socks, among many other things. And even though UF/IFAS Extension does not have a “Sock Challenge”, the homeless and limited-resource families are often in desperate need of new white socks. There are plenty of shelters and schools who would really appreciate donations of clean new socks – any time of year.
So…Peanut Butter and Socks, they really are the Florida Panhandle’s perfect combination.
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