Fun Facts by pblovers April 19, 2011 Check out these "spread-worthy" peanut butter facts! Peanuts are not actually nuts at all! They are legumes – like beans, peas, and lentils. Americans eat three pounds of peanut butter per person every year – enough PB to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon! One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches. Two former U.S. Presidents were peanut farmers: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter. March is National Peanut Month; November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month. The peanut plant is unusual because it flowers above the ground, but fruits below the ground. Runner peanuts are preferred for peanut butter, and are grown primarily in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. Peanut shells are used to make kitty litter, wallboard, fireplace logs, paper and animal feed, and are sometimes used as fuel for power plants. Africans ground peanuts into stews as early as the 1400s; Chinese have crushed peanuts into creamy sauces for centuries; and Civil War soldiers dined on “peanut porridge.”