By RACHEL PIENTA
Wakulla Community Accepts the Peanut Butter Challenge!
Crawfordville, FL – The Wakulla County Extension team and the 4-H youth development program once again challenged the local community to accept the annual Peanut Butter Challenge. This year, 4-H member Josie Counce asked community members to join her in the effort to collect peanut butter.
The community took the challenge to heart, donating the most peanut butter ever given by Wakulla since participation began in 2012. In 2023, Wakulla County peanut butter donations increased by 92% over the prior year, translating into an additional 773 pounds collected, for a total of 892 jars which equaled 1,612 pounds. Wakulla County placed third in total peanut butter collected out of 50 participating counties.
Why does the Extension office lead a peanut butter drive each year? University of Florida Extension partners with the Florida Peanut Federation and the Florida Peanut Producers to help place this nutrient dense, shelf stable food in communities where it is most needed. Counties that collect peanut butter are eligible for a match of jars, doubling the impact of their collection effort.
Florida is a major peanut producing state. Florida ranks third nationwide in peanut production (2022). The peanut industry contributed $147 million to the state economy in 2022. Florida harvested 142,000 acres of peanuts in 2022, producing 554 million pounds of peanuts in 2022.The bulk of this production comes out of the Suwannee Valley and the Panhandle, and southward to just below Marion County.
In Wakulla County, the annual Peanut Butter Challenge benefits local food pantries and other efforts that feed local citizens. Peanut butter is supplied to local schools to go home in backpacks, to organizations that provide local community food aid, placed around the county in Blessing Boxes, and distributed to other organizations such as the Wakulla Senior Citizens’ Center.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions, or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A&M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating.
For more information about Wakulla County Extension programs and 4-H, please visit the Crawfordville office at 84 Cedar Avenue or online at https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/wakulla/.
