Are Americans Weaned on Peanut Butter?

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suziecue20
suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Peanut butter is mentioned in lots of threads and I am wondering why people in US especially love it so much.

I tried it once years ago and it made me gag. I didn't like the taste or the texture and haven't touched it since.
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Replies

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    I wonder this, too! I can't stand the smell, If I'm in the same room as peanut butter it makes me feel sick.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Yup, it's more American than apple pie. It's also pretty expensive and easy to pack in a lunch with no refrigeration, so I took it to school a lot as a kid.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    I know I grew to love it when I lived in the states, Australia is only now really getting on the peanut butter train.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    never even tasted it.....
  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
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    I like natural extra crunch almond butter now but yes growing up it's a high protein, cheap, easy lunch. They push it on the WIC program, it's a free food for lower income based program, you get cereals, milk, peanut butter, tuna. It's also something they throw into food boxes for elderly and poor. Seems to be the go to item to add to things like that.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    I had it once when I was younger and hated it.
    Had it again later and it's pretty good.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
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    It is a staple in many households. We have students with some severe peanut/tree nut allergies in my school and sent home a note asking parents to not bring in PB and there was a huge backlash. There are some kids who eat PB daily for lunch and will not eat anything else.
  • MyNameIsNotBob
    MyNameIsNotBob Posts: 565 Member
    edited September 2015
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    Yes, I grew up on it. Cheap, filling, nutritious, doesn't need refrigeration, versatile. Yum. I have some almost daily. I like the extra crunchy kind.

    ETA: As to *why* we love it so much, it probably has a lot to do with our country's agricultural history, the Civil War, reconstruction South, and this guy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
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    It's gross to me too. Almond butter on the other hand.. Yum!.
  • carlyp79
    carlyp79 Posts: 95 Member
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    I'm in Australia and I grew up on PB. On crackers, bread, celery... it's cheap and tasty. I cheerfully feed it to my twin toddlers, and sometimes they just eat a glob of it off a spoon.
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
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    My theory is that Americans had peanut butter because they didn't have Marmite/Bovril!
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
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    MyNameIsNotBob wrote: »
    Yes, I grew up on it. Cheap, filling, nutritious, doesn't need refrigeration, versatile. Yum. I have some almost daily. I like the extra crunchy kind.

    ETA: As to *why* we love it so much, it probably has a lot to do with our country's agricultural history, the Civil War, reconstruction South, and this guy: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver

    Thanks for that link - very informative - I've learnt something new today :)

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,865 Member
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    I used to love it ... but then in my early 20s I discovered that it (and peanuts and peas) were the cause of so much bloating and agonising abdominal cramps and general feelings of nausea. I'd eat a bowl of peanuts or a peanut butter and jam sandwich or something, and a short time later I'd be lying on the ground with my arms stretched above my head trying to ease the intense bloating and pain.

    Finally twigged onto what was causing it, and have hardly touched anything peanuts or pea related since.

    However, I did have peanuts once about 2 years ago. I was only going to have a couple because just a couple don't cause much of an issue, and I ended up eating about a cup of them. Oh the agony!! I was reminded very clearly why I avoid them.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    My theory is that Americans had peanut butter because they didn't have Marmite/Bovril!

    I could get behind this theory.
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
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    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    My theory is that Americans had peanut butter because they didn't have Marmite/Bovril!

    Ah but you either love or hate marmite in UK - it's not as big as peanut butter in US.

    I would say peanut butter sandwiches are to US children what cheddar cheese sandwiches are to UK kids.

  • TheopolisAmbroiseIII
    TheopolisAmbroiseIII Posts: 197 Member
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    suziecue20 wrote: »
    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    My theory is that Americans had peanut butter because they didn't have Marmite/Bovril!

    Ah but you either love or hate marmite in UK - it's not as big as peanut butter in US.

    I would say peanut butter sandwiches are to US children what cheddar cheese sandwiches are to UK kids.

    I'm Canadian, and while I remember lots of kids having pb sandwiches at my school (back when that was allowed) I also recall an equal amount having Cheez Whiz sandwiches. Is that perhaps a compromise between our US Neighbors (PB sandwiches) and our British Commonwealth status (cheddar sandwiches)?
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
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    Is Cheez Whiz like Dairylea Triangles? I hated those, because I always managed to eat a bit of tin foil (I was only a kid!) It's like a delicate surgical operation here now when I eat Laughing Cow because it triggers those memories.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,865 Member
    edited September 2015
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    "Funny" thing ... I'm a long distance cyclist, and I have done cycling events in various parts of the world where food is provided. Quite commonly on these events, in places like Canada, Australia, and Europe we're served things like pasta, mashed potatoes topped with cheese, chicken fried rice, perogies, eggs and chips, thick soups, and things like that. Not peanut butter sandwiches. Or if that is an option, it is served up as bread with a number of possible toppings including peanut butter. (Here in Australia, Vegemite will be among the 'number of possible toppings'. :grin: )

    And yet I did one event in the US where the ONLY things they had on offer at one of the rest stops was pre-made peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and a small quantity of apple slices. I asked if I could make my own sandwich with just the bread and jam ... but they told me two things: 1) They had used up all the bread, peanut butter and jam making those sandwiches just for us; and 2) All cyclists like peanut butter.

    "Not when they have an intolerance that results in agonising bloating and digestive issues", I said. That possibility had never occurred to them at all. And the possibility that peanut butter would be the only thing on offer had never occurred to me.

    To their dismay, I ended eating almost all their apple slices (there weren't many) ... and to my dismay, I had to go find something to eat elsewhere at a time of day when practically nothing was open.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,138 Member
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    I'd take vegemite over peanut butter any day. I don't mind it. I keep it in the pantry for making protein balls and it's okay on fresh bread. But I never look at it and want to eat it with a spoon. I also don't understand why it's always mixed with chocolate. I remember FINALLY eating Reese's pieces a few years ago (after constantly hearing about them from American media). I was underwhelmed.

    You can all throw rocks at me now.
  • TheopolisAmbroiseIII
    TheopolisAmbroiseIII Posts: 197 Member
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    CurlyCockney wrote: »
    Is Cheez Whiz like Dairylea Triangles? I hated those, because I always managed to eat a bit of tin foil (I was only a kid!) It's like a delicate surgical operation here now when I eat Laughing Cow because it triggers those memories.

    No, it's a pasteurized cheese spread product in a jar. Made by Kraft. It's, oddly enough, not full of artificial junk. It's made from real cheeses, milk, and some spices (i think mustard powder?). I'm sure the light version is a chemistry lab, but that's the way of it.

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