Peanuts In Alabama

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From the great soil, to the subtropical climate. The amazing taste and healthy snacks, to the big bucks to the Alabama economy. The helpful ways that peanuts impact Alabama families. Peanuts are all around the best nuts! Who grows the best peanuts in the Grand Ole USA? Well, the farmers in Southern Alabama of course! They may not grow the most, but some say they do grow the best, making lower Alabama the Peanut Capital of the World. What makes Southern Alabama so right for growing peanuts? Peanuts need a warm climate to grow and South Alabama gets mighty hot in the summer time! The sub-tropical climate helps peanuts grow. Also, peanuts grow well, in the well-drained, chalky soil and sand, which is found in lower Alabama. Peanuts are…show more content…
There are approximately 200,000 acres of peanuts grown a year in Southern Alabama alone. Alabama is the third ranking state for peanut production in the United States. Only Georgia and Texas surpass the amount of peanuts grown in Alabama. The top four counties for peanut production in Alabama are all located in the extreme Southern region of Alabama. These counties include Geneva, Houston, Henry, and Baldwin counties. Houston County even calls itself “The Peanut Capital of the World”. In total, Alabama harvests approximately 400 million pounds of peanuts annually. This large amount of peanuts puts more than 100 million dollars back into the Alabama economy each year. Now that is a lot of peanuts! There are four types of peanuts grown in Alabama. They are the Runner Peanut, the Valencia Peanut, the Spanish Peanut, and the Virginian. Runners make up ninety eight percent of the peanuts grown in Alabama. Half of these peanuts are used to make peanut butter. It is the law that peanuts make up ninety percent of peanut butter. Each year Americans spend more than eight hundred million dollars in peanut butter. Peanuts grown for peanut butter alone impact the Alabama economy in a big…show more content…
Dr. Carver devoted most of his 50 years of living, studying, and teaching in Alabama to researching the peanut. In 1916, Alabama fell on hard times. The cotton crop was destroyed by the boll weevil and with the guidance of Dr. Carver, many Alabama farmers began planting peanuts instead of cotton. With his guidance, cotton mills were changed to mills which could produce peanut oil, sharecroppers fed their families with crops that were not sold, and livestock were fed peanut plants after the peanut was removed. Dr. Carver found many new uses for the peanut through his research. He developed over three hundred uses for the simple peanut. He developed uses for peanuts in cosmetics which included items such as shaving cream, lotion, face powder, and shampoo. He taught ways to use peanuts in food products such as caramel, mayonnaise, and coffee. Other products Dr. Carver used which contained peanuts included rubber, charcoal, insecticides, and axle grease. Peanuts are not only good to eat they can also give people more nutrition in every bite, giving a person more energy to have an energetic life. Many experts propose more plant-based eating, including plant source protein like

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