Tuesday Open Line


It’s a time to celebrate one of life’s simple, viscous pleasures — it’s Peanut Butter Lovers Month. The stuff of one of America’s favorite sandwiches, peanut butter was first offered to the public at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. But as we currently know it — with the peanuts roasted and the product churned like butter to be smooth and so the oil won’t separate — peanut butter didn’t appear on grocery shelves until 1922. While we each eat more than 6.5 pounds of peanuts in all forms each year, peanut oil is used in making paints, cosmetics, and lubricants, while the shells are used to make wallboard, abrasives, and fuel. Making peanut butter and roasting nuts is a nearly $11 billion a year business in the U.S. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the America’s Economy mobile app at www.census.gov/mobile