Who Invented Peanut Butter? The Inside Scoop

Lately, the peanut has been in the news mostly because some people are allergic to them. Headlines like "St. Louis Stadium To Offer Peanut-Free Seating" (OzarksFIRST.com) ( May 30, 2008)) make me wonder how long it will be before we're being warned about Big Peanut.

Meanwhile, people around the world continue to eat peanuts, and peanut products: including peanut butter. There's even a suggestion that peanuts might provide high-value/low-cost food to people in parts of the world where the price of gasoline isn't as important as getting a square meal now and again. (Science News (September 16, 2008))

I ran into an article in the Philadelphia Daily News that got me wondering: who invented peanut butter? And, for that matter, where do peanuts come from? ('Everybody knows' that Dr. George Washington Carver invented peanut butter, and that peanuts come from the ground. But, as usual, it's a little more complicated than that.)

• "Jim Coleman: A peanut butter history lesson & no-bake recipes for a graduation party"
  Philadelphia Daily News (June 5, 2008)
  • "Q: I am looking for a great peanut-butter pie recipe for a graduation party next weekend and would prefer one that doesn't need baking. I enjoy your recipes, and I look forward to hearing from you.
  • "- Georgia R.
  • "A: Here's a quick trivia question for you: How many peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches do Americans eat each year?
  • "Correct answer: 10 B - as in billion!
  • "I like peanut butter, but I must be a lightweight in the PBJ race. There have got to be some real peanut-butter champions out there, and I'm sure they all want to know where their favorite food came from.
  • "A lot of people have been taught that George Washington Carver invented peanut butter. That's not exactly true, though I'll get back to Mr. Carver in a minute, because he really was a peanut hero...."
• "The History of Peanut Butter"
  About.com
  • "Peanut butter was invented and reinvented many times during history. Peanuts were known as early as 950 B.C. and originated in South America. The ancient Incas used peanuts and were known to have made it into a paste-like substance. As a crop peanuts emigrated from South America to Africa by early explorers and then traveled by trade into Spain who then traded the product to the American colonies. The first commercial peanut crop was grown in Virginia in the early to mid 1840's and in North Carolina beginning around 1818."
• "George Washington Carver"
  About.com
  • "It is rare to find a man of the caliber of George Washington Carver. A man who would decline an invitation to work for a salary of more than $100,000 a year (almost a million today) to continue his research on behalf of his countrymen.
  • "Agricultural chemist, Carver discovered three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes. Among the listed items that he suggested to southern farmers to help them economically were his recipes and improvements to/for: adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes...."
• "Legacy of George Washington Carver"
  Tuskegee University
  • "As a botany and agriculture teacher to the children of ex-slaves, Dr. George Washington Carver wanted to improve the lot of “the man farthest down,” the poor, one-horse farmer at the mercy of the market and chained to land exhausted by cotton.
  • "Unlike other agricultural researchers of his time, Dr. Carver saw the need to devise practical farming methods for this kind of farmer. He wanted to coax them away from cotton to such soil-enhancing, protein-rich crops as soybeans and peanuts and to teach them self-sufficiency and conservation.
  • "Dr. Carver achieved this through an innovative series of free, simply-written brochures that included information on crops, cultivation techniques, and recipes for nutritious meals. He also urged the farmers to submit samples of their soil and water for analysis and taught them livestock care and food preservation techniques."
• "Peanut"
  Minnesota and Wisconsin Extension Services
  • "The cultivated peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), originated in South America (Bolivia and adjoining countries) and is now grown throughout the tropical an warm temperate regions of the, world. This crop was grown widely by native peoples of the New World at the time of European expansion in the sixteenth century and was subsequently taken to Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Peanut was introduced to the present southeastern United States during colonial times. Peanut was grown primarily as a garden crop in the United States until 1870. As a field crop, peanut was used commonly for hog pasture until about 1930...."
• "The Incredible Peanut"
  Southern Illinois University Carbondale
  • " The history of the peanut traces a path back over several continents and finally ends up in South America. The peanut is thought to have originated in northern Argentina or southern Bolivia becauso [!] this area has the most diversity in the number of wild species in South America. Arachis monticola, which is restricted to northern Argentina, seems to be the closest relative to Arachis, hvpopgaea. However, the discovery of a fossilized peanut over 10,000 years old at Chlien-shan-yang in China has cast some doubt on this widely held theory and it will probably not be resolved until more evidence is found. Nevertheless, it is widely accepted that the cradle of domestication for the peanut is Peru. Containers of cultivated peanuts have been found at archeological [!] sites in Peru that date back to at least 3500 years ago. Peanuts were highly valued by the Peruvian Indians and were used as money, medicine, and status symbols as well as food."