By Clint Thompson
March is National Peanut Month, and the Georgia Peanut Commission celebrated on Tuesday with its annual PB&J (peanut butter and jelly) Day at the State Capitol.
Joy Crosby, assistant executive director at the Georgia Peanut Commission, talked about the annual event.
“The Georgia Peanut Commission kicked off National Peanut Month with a celebration in Atlanta at the State Capitol. We held our annual PB&J Day. It’s a great day at the State Capitol where we have Georgia peanuts, fried; we have samples to hand out. We have grilled PB&Js; lots of peanut candy, lots of peanut products to hand out,” Crosby said.
“Kroger has been on site at the event, handing out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It’s really just a great day for us to be able to celebrate the peanut industry in Georgia and how important it is to the state.”
The Georgia Peanut Commission conducts programs in the areas of promotion, research and education. Funding is derived from a $2 per ton assessment on all producers. Tuesday’s event provided another outlet for the commission to promote Georgia’s $2.2 billion industry.
“The event really provides us a way to visit with legislators and also consumers who might be in the Capitol and provides us a way to share information with them about the importance of Georgia’s peanut industry and also let them know more about Georgia’s 4,000 peanut farmers and how they produce 50% of peanuts grown in the U.S.,” Crosby said.