PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMMB) — The University of Florida/IFAS Extension Peanut Butter Challenge is underway and jars of peanut butter have already been dropped off.
The challenge will be held until the end of October.
The the challenge started in the panhandle in 2012, and it is now statewide.
“I am really excited that we’re starting,” said 4-h Youth Development Faculty Paula Davis. “I really want to beat Walton County. They are kinds of our rivals and we go back and forth. Walton and Jackson County… Bay County has already started.”
Every year, the challenge brings in hundreds of donated jars of peanut butter. The Florida Peanut Produce Association and Florida Peanut Federation will match each county’s donation.
Davis said everything collected in Bay County will stay in Bay County.
Peanut butter is a non-pershable that provides a lot of protein, but it is also good for the environment.
Northern Florida grows about six hundred and 70 million pounds of peanuts.
“Peanuts are good for the land they will help put nitrogen back into the soil because they are a lagoon crop and enrich the land,” said Davis.
The University of Florida/IFAS Extension said they will divide the peanut butter among serval churches in the community and have distribution sites just in time for the holidays.
If you would like to donate, you can drop it off at the University of Florida/IFAS Extension office located at 2728 E 14 Street in Panama City.