UF/IFAS Extension Kicks off Annual Peanut Butter Challenge

If you want to help feed the hungry in Florida’s Panhandle this year, you can donate peanut butter during the annual Peanut Butter Challenge, coordinated by UF/IFAS Extension. Thanks to a partnership of UF/IFAS Extension and the Florida Peanut Producers Association, food pantries from Pensacola to Monticello will receive thousands of jars of donated peanut butter this December.

From now through Nov. 21, donate unopened jars of peanut butter at the UF/IFAS Extension office and other locations in Escambia County. This year, drop-off boxes can be found at: 

• UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County, 3740 Stefani Road, Cantonment
• Escambia County Public Safety, 6575 N. W St., Pensacola
• Escambia County Farm Bureau, 153 Highway 97, Molino
• Gilmore Services, 31 E. Fairfield Drive, Pensacola
• Escambia County Administration, 221 Palafox Place, 4th Floor, Pensacola 
• Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit,10650 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola
• Century Library, 7991 N. Century Blvd., Century,

Since 2012, the volunteers and UF/IFAS Extension faculty have collected jars of peanut butter from residents, volunteer groups and businesses in 16 Northwest Florida counties. Last year, UF/IFAS Extension county offices received 6,388 jars of peanut butter from across the district. 

In addition to these donations, the Florida Peanut Producers Association also contributes, supplying more than 3,000 jars each challenge, said Libbie Johnson, agricultural agent for UF/IFAS Extension Escambia County and co-organizer of the challenge.  

They hope to surpass that total this year, and citizens of Escambia County are asked to help. 

“Every year, the Peanut Butter Challenge continues to grow and helps support the needs of our community with a healthy, locally-grown crop,” Johnson said. "Extension is proud to coordinate the effort to reduce food insecurity for Escambia County residents."
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS works to bring science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents. Visit the UF/IFAS web site at ifas.ufl.edu and follow us on social media at @UF_IFAS.