Our Community
Giving back is a value that our founder, T.H. Birdsong, not only lived but also instilled in his family. That commitment to make the world a better place continues today, as we partner with our customers and communities to make a difference.
Peanut Proud Inc. is a charity devoted to delivering peanuts, peanut butter and peanut -based therapeutic food (RUTF) to those in need both in the United States and in developing countries. We are an industry-wide, all-volunteer organization, so 100% of our funds help the hungry. Birdsong is proud to be a founding financial supporter and to have provided the volunteer manpower that ensures the success and continuation of Peanut Proud. Since the inception of Peanut Proud in Blakely, Georgia in 2009, Birdsong employees have served as the organization’s first two presidents and have provided over 10,000 hours of volunteer support.
Hunger kills more children than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. In Africa, one child dies every six seconds from the effects of malnutrition. In an effort to combat this scourge, Birdsong has partnered with Project Peanut Butter (www.projectpeanutbutter.org) and others in a coordinated effort to wage war against childhood malnutrition.
The most vulnerable are children between ages one and three who are severely malnourished. They need immediate help to avoid starvation or physical and mental defects.'
Community Support
- American Peanut Research Education Society
- Boys & Girls Clubs
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Chrysler Museum of Art
- Eastern Virginia Medical School
- Habitat for Humanity
- Nansemond - Suffolk Academy
- Nature Conservancy
- Operation Smile
- Peanut Genomics
- Project Peanut Butter
- Salvation Army
- Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts
- Suffolk Crime Line
- Suffolk First Citizen
- Suffolk PeanutFest
- The Suffolk Foundation
- United Way
- Virginia Aquarium
- Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges
- Virginia Legal Aid Society
- Virginia Symphony
- Virginia Symphony Orchestra
- YMCA
Health & Nutrition
Eating Peanuts May Help You Live Longer
There are seven grams of protein and over 30 essential minerals in every ounce of peanuts (Nut Health and Wellness Profiles). That’s more protein than any other nut. Peanuts also have healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats. Jane Brody, writing in the New York Times calls them “powerhouses of biologically active substances, most of which are known to protect and promote health.” 1 Dr. Walt Willett (Harvard) says, “Numerous studies have shown that people who regularly include nuts or peanut butter in their diets are less likely to develop heart disease or type 2 diabetes than those who rarely eat nuts.” 2
A landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows just how powerful peanuts are. 3 Researchers tracked 119,000 men and women for 30 years. It was noted, “Those who ate one or more servings per day of peanuts or other nuts had a 20% lower risk of dying than those who ate none.” 4 Peanuts were the most frequently consumed nut in the survey and the authors further noted, “We don’t see any difference in the benefits between peanuts and tree nuts.” 5.
The most obvious benefit was a reduction of 29 percent in deaths from heart disease — the major killer of people in America. But researchers also saw a significant reduction — 11 percent — in the risk of dying from cancer. As an added bonus frequent nut consumers were found to be more slender than those who didn’t eat nuts. 6 Simply put, eating peanuts may help you live longer. And your best bet for a long life is to munch on them regularly.
The results were so convincing that the study’s leader, Dr. Charles Fuchs, said, “I think eating nuts is comparable to other potentially beneficial lifestyle measures like exercise and avoiding obesity and trans fats.” 7
For the latest information on peanut nutrition and research go to www.peanut-institute.com and nationalpeanutboard.org.