Perry, GA |
At this year’s Georgia National Fair, visitors entering the Georgia Grown Building were greeted with a vibrant new addition: the Powerful Peanut Experience, a fully immersive exhibit designed to showcase the impact and legacy of Georgia’s number one crop — the peanut.
With Georgia producing more than half of the nation’s peanut supply, the exhibit was created to help educate fairgoers on the crop’s importance, from its agricultural roots to its everyday presence in lunchboxes and pantries across the country.
“This year, we unveiled the Powerful Peanut display where we tell the story of the Georgia peanut,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. “You know, we’re the number one producer of peanuts in America. Over fifty percent of peanuts are produced in the state of Georgia. These displays give people a real opportunity to know where their food comes from, how it’s grown, and it tells the story of our producers and our farm families and the work they do every single day.”
That mission — to make agriculture relatable and accessible to all — was a joint effort between the Georgia Peanut Commission and Georgia’s Rural Center. Together, they created an exhibit that could spark curiosity and ignite understanding, especially in the next generation.
“Ag education is a big focus of the Rural Center and the Department of Agriculture,” said Charlie Fiveash, Executive Director of Georgia’s Rural Center. “With peanuts being Georgia’s number one crop, we want to make sure those opportunities are presented to the students and others who come through the exhibit — to see the importance of agriculture and in particular, peanut production here in Georgia.”
The exhibit took visitors on a journey from the field to the kitchen table, highlighting every step of the process.
“Our end goal for this exhibit is for people to really have a deep understanding of what exactly goes into those candy bars or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches people eat every day,” said Maddie Frost, Project Coordinator with the Georgia Peanut Commission. “From the farmer to the shelling plant and beyond, we want people to know the hard work behind their food. And of course, we also just want people to eat more peanuts.”
To accomplish that, organizers focused heavily on creating a hands-on, interactive experience.
“We have multiple monitors that walk you through and help you learn different things,” Frost added. “We also have our peanut wagon where people can walk up and see what it looks like during the drying process. We wanted it to feel real — like people could truly understand what the process is.”
Ultimately, it’s all about building appreciation — not just for peanuts, but for agriculture as a whole.
“People need to understand the importance of agriculture,” said Fiveash. “Georgia’s number one industry is agriculture, and that awareness is the big takeaway — not only for this generation but for the next. We want to make sure Georgia continues to be number one in agriculture.”
By: John Holcomb