Commentary

Commentary: CPB: Commons Peanut Butter

“The liquidy stuff that they have here? Not good,” said Michelle Jeon ’19 when asked about the Paresky Commons peanut butter. Intrigued by her answer, I went around last week to gather more opinions on the Paresky peanut butter from some of my other peers. Here are some of the responses I received:

Claire Brady ’20 said, “It’s too liquidy but at the same time, it’s too sticky.”

Shyan Koul ’19 said, “It is a little more grainy than I would expect from something that liquidy.”

Annie Lord ’19: “We already talked about it. I think it’s weird that it’s your favorite type of peanut butter.”

Helen He ’19 said, “With all due respect, [Paresky] Commons peanut butter is by far inferior to Skippy, Jif, or any other brand. It is much too dry and smooth for my taste, and it lacks the sweetness I look for in peanut butter. I’d much rather have some of [the Paresky] sun butter.”

My response to these comments is simple: I will be eating Paresky peanut butter for the rest of my life. In fact, I love Paresky peanut butter so much that I went to Trader Joe’s to find a replica of its taste and texture. The brand, for any fellow Paresky peanut butter lovers, is called “Creamy Unsalted Peanut Butter from Unblanched Peanuts by Trader Joe’s.”

While many may argue that Commons Peanut Butter (CPB) is much too liquidy, my response is that its liquidness allows for it to be spread on toast and bagels alike in a more timely manner than other brands. For other types of peanut butters, you must grab a knife and spread it, CPB only needs to be squeezed out of a bottle saving time and the number of utensils that need to be washed.

Furthermore, the texture is part of why the peanut butter can be served at Paresky Commons in the first place. It makes life much safer here at Andover for those who have nut allergies, because it can be squeezed through a bottle rather than spread by a knife, which could potentially touch other serving utensils.

CPB also has a natural taste and its ingredients do not include salt. When compared to conventional brands like Skippy and Jif, CPB is a much healthier choice because those brands add lots of sugar into their mixtures, according to the website, “Eat This.” On the same website’s ranking of the worst peanut butter brands, both Skippy and Jif were on the top of the list, due to their their excess sugar and “no nutritional value other than calories.”

Although there are much bigger problems in this world than than the quality of cafeteria peanut butter, my hope is that this article will answer some of my peer’s concerns regarding CPB.

I will leave you with this:

Georgia Ezell ’19 said,  “I know there’s a lot of controversy over the [Paresky] peanut butter, but I’m personally a fan. I eat it almost everyday and love how it tastes more natural compared to some other brands.”

Long live the Paresky Commons peanut butter!

Emily Qian is a Senior from Southborough, MA. Contact the author at eqian19@andover.edu.