NOT A NUT, BUT A PEA The next time you're taking a big lick of peanut butter, you can say that you're eating your vegetables. Peanuts are not really nuts, but are close cousins of peas.
DOWN-UNDER WONDER Peanuts grow down, not up! First, a flower on a peanut vine (see drawing 1, above) is pollinated by a bee. The flower then dries up and falls off, and the vine grows down toward the soil (2). Once it has pushed into the ground, the vine's tip swells and grows into a pod (3). Inside the pod two seeds usually form, which we call peanuts.
WORLD TRAVELERS Peanuts were first grown in South America. They've been found in ancient pots near Lima, Peru. Some ancient Incan pottery jars are even shaped like peanuts. Spanish explorers brought peanuts to Europe. Later, European traders took peanuts to Africa. They traded the peanuts for elephant tusks and spices. Then, finally, African slaves brought peanuts from Africa to North America.
CIVIL WAR STORY Peanuts were eaten in the United States before the Civil War, but mostly by cows and pigs! When the war came, food was hard to find. Some soldiers were willing to try anything--even peanuts! Union soldiers from the North got to like peanuts, and they brought them back home. Then even more people got to try these "new" crunchy treats.
"GET YOUR PEANUTS HERE" Shortly after the Civil War, a famous circus owner named P. T Barnum started selling roasted peanuts during circus performances. Then people at stadiums ca on and started selling peanuts during baseball games. Pretty soon lots of folks were munching while watching.
THE EDIBLE SPREAD Peanut butter--made from ground-up peanuts--has been around for only about 100 years. And get this: It was invented by a doctor to help cure his patients! The doctor worked with old people in St. Louis, Missouri. Many of his patients had trouble digesting their food. The doctor thought peanut butter would be good for their stomachs. He also thought it was good food. Peanut butter is good because it has lots of protein (protein helps your body grow and repair itself). But peanut butter is also loaded with fat! And too much fat can be bad for you.
PEANUT FAN A scientist named George Washington Carver learned that growing peanuts helps make the soil better. He tried to talk farmers into growing more of the plants. But the farmers didn't think they could sell a lot of peanuts, so they didn't want to grow them. George thought that if there were more ways to use peanuts, then more people would want to buy them. To help, George invented hundreds of new ways to use peanuts -- for everything from wood stains to shaving cream. Once he served a dinner that had peanuts in every single dish! Slowly, more and more farmers started growing the plants. Now peanuts grow on many farms from Virginia to New Mexico.
DIGITAL PEANUTS
6 Average number of pounds of unshelled peanuts that each person in the United States eats per year.
9 Number of states that have big peanut crops. Georgia grows the most. 300 Number of products that George Washington Carver made from the peanut plant-including shampoo, cheese, plastic, shaving cream, ink, wallboard, and ice cream.
1500 Number of peanut butter sandwiches eaten by the average American child by the time he or she graduates from high school.
2500 Weight in pounds of the "world's largest" peanut butter and jelly sandwich (see photo above left). The sandwich was made in 1992 at the Atlanta Penta Hotel in Georgia.
800,000,000 Pounds of peanut butter eaten each year by people in the United States.
Poster
Smoke weed everyday
Originally Posted by Withcheese
Mission accomplished.
Ex-Moderatererer
Poster
The Blonde Alibi
I have a very comfy bed.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
I have a very comfy bed.
Bookmarks