You want the foods you eat to be delicious and nutritious—and peanuts get an A+ in both those categories.1 But in a recent survey, half of Americans said it’s also at least somewhat important to them that their food be produced in a sustainable way.2 Well, peanuts ace that test, too: They’re one of the most earth-friendly foods. 3, 4, 5
Protecting the Planet
You need protein from the foods you eat to build strong muscles and bones and maintain healthy skin.7 Like meat and poultry, peanuts are packed with nutritious protein.1 But growing a protein-rich plant such as peanuts generally has less negative impact on the environment than raising animals for food.8
Globally, producing and processing food creates at least one-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions10—the release of gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet.9 Some foods account for a much bigger share than others.10 When scientists calculated the greenhouse gas emissions created by producing some common protein foods, here’s what they found:
| Foods | Greenhouse gas emissions (including farming, processing, packaging, and transportation; measured in kg CO2e per functional unit of food) |
| Peanut butter | 2.9 |
| Eggs | 4.8 |
| Cheese | 13.5 |
Source: Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers10
Using Less Water
Environmental scientists use the term water footprint to describe the total volume of fresh water required to produce a crop.3 Peanuts have a much smaller water footprint than other nuts:
| Nuts (in their shells) | Global average water footprint (measured in cubic meters of water used per ton of nuts) |
| Peanuts | 2,782 |
| Walnuts | 4,918 |
| Hazelnuts | 5,258 |
| Almonds | 8,047 |
| Pistachios | 11,363 |
| Cashews | 14,218 |
Source: UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education3
One reason peanuts stack up so well is that they aren’t actually nuts. Botanically speaking, they’re legumes1—a plant family that also includes beans, peas, and lentils.6
Improving the Soil
Like other legumes, peanuts naturally replenish the soil with nitrogen, an essential nutrient for plant growth. Peanut plants team up with helpful bacteria living in their roots to take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form plants can use. Peanuts can supply up to 90 percent of their own nitrogen this way.5
At the end of the growing season, when the peanut plant dies and decays, more nitrogen is added to the soil. This enriches the soil, making it more fertile for the next season’s crop.5
What you choose to eat has a big impact not only on the health of your body, but also on the health of the planet.8 Nutritious, earth-friendly peanuts are a smart choice on both scores.1, 3, 4, 5
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