Each school in the Decatur County School System celebrated PB&J Day on Wednesday in order to celebrate agriculture and teach the children how some of their favorite foods start right here in Decatur County.

Festivities got kicked off at West Bainbridge Elementary School, when local farmer and Georgia Peanut Commission board member Andy Bell presented a book donation to the library.

Bell presented the book “PB&J Hooray” to Principal Jamie Ard, along with a handful of excited students dressed as farmers and peanuts.

“Today’s activities are very important,” said Bell. “All the kids can learn about where their food comes from. Most kids and a lot of adults think all their food comes from the grocery store. We want to donate this book so we can tell our story.”

Food education was the focus of the morning at West Bainbridge. After the book donation, a peanut picker combine was delivered to the school.

A group of children stood around the massive piece of machinery with wide eyes as Bell pointed out the particular parts and what aspects of the combine do what.

Aside from learning about where their food comes from, the day also shows the kids what they could aspire to be one day. The world needs farmers, and P&J Day could have inspired a few students to go into the world of farming when they get older.

“We had a lot of them dressed like farmers today, and farmers are getting older,” said Bell. “I hope some of them are excited about going into agriculture.”

Getting kids excited about their long-term goals is a hard task. However, PB&J Day did serve as an exciting way to break the normal day-to-day routine for the students, and that was enough to get their attention.

Students passed in the hallways dressed in cowboy boots and overalls. Some students had peanuts drawn on their shirt; some glued actual peanuts in the shape of a big peanut on their clothing. Whatever the end goal of PB&J day was, the short-term goal of getting them excited was accomplished.

“It’s very fun for them to learn in events like this,” said Ard. “It’s relative to their real life experiences. When they go out in our community here, when they drive down the highway, they see peanut farms and agriculture around them.”

West Bainbridge was only a fraction of the full days events throughout Decatur County. Each school participated to ensure a widespread understanding and appreciation of what it takes to get the food they love on the shelves of the grocery stores here across the county.

“I think they’re excited to know where their food comes from,” said Bell. “We’re in an agricultural county, some of them do know where it comes from but a lot of them do not. I think they’re very excited.