Georgia peanuts: how this lowly legume became a culinary staple [Video]

When one thinks of Georgia’s food culture, items such as peaches, pecans and barbecue come to mind.

Peanuts should be on that as well, experts suggest. 

Georgia grows more than half the peanuts in the United States — and these little legumes are a key part of the state’s economy, said Don Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission. 

“Peanuts are not only good to eat. They’re good for you,” said Koehler, adding that consuming peanuts has been shown to prevent heart disease. 

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“To have a super food that we grow here in Georgia, it really is kind of exciting,” he said. 

Peanuts, explained Koehler, are not native to Georgia, and have a rather unusual story of how they wound up in the state.

Native to South America, peanuts played an important role in Indigenous cultures there, said Koehler, and were even featured on pottery and used in …