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BLAKELY, Ga. (WALB) - Thousands of South Georgians took to the streets of Blakely Saturday, March 22 for the 17th Annual Peanut Proud Festival.

The day started with an 8 a.m. 5k and fun run. After that, local vendors opened up for the community to browse and shop. At 10 a.m., city and county officials, small businesses and local law enforcement participated in the main event — the Proud Peanut Parade!

Even Congressman Sanford Bishop made it to the event. He said, “It’s a beautiful day to celebrate peanuts. This county is one of the largest peanut producers in the country! I am definitely peanut proud. I’m proud to be the peanut congressman, that’s what they call me in Washington!”

The festival wasn’t always around in Early County, though. In 2009, there was a Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter shipped from a plant in Blakely.

Lots of negative publicity surrounding the city and the peanut industry as a whole came from this outbreak. So, the city formed Peanut Proud in an effort to restore the public’s confidence in Georgia peanuts.

Now, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over 50% of the country’s peanuts come from Georgia.

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