A peanut butter & jelly is a lunchbox staple for most kids. Growing up with an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts, my lunches were very different from all of my friends'. My mom would often pack me a sandwich with a nut-butter alternative instead of peanut butter. I remember sampling several different brands to choose the best flavor, and now that I am older, I realize that I was fortunate enough to have many choices and options. I never worried about access to safe foods because they were always available in grocery stores in our suburban neighborhood. They offered many alternatives to peanut and other nut butters, such as Soy Nut Butter, Sun Butter, and Wow Butter just to name a few.

I spent so much of my life as a kid worrying about my own food allergy. It wasn't until my Health Equity summer internship with the Collaborative Center for Social Innovation in Buffalo that I learned about “food deserts” in inner cities. I realized that many families right here in the Buffalo community have limited or no access at all to grocery store options, let alone alternatives to peanut and other nut butters. "What do kids like me with food allergies do to stay safe and eat healthy if they can't afford safe alternatives," I began to wonder. Kids living in low-income neighborhoods would not be able to enjoy a basic sandwich, like a soy-nut butter and jelly, that is safe and healthy to eat. This does not seem fair.

I did some research and found that the cost of sunflower butter and many other nut-alternative spreads is significantly higher than peanut butter. At Walmart, for example, a 16-ounce jar of SunButter Natural Sunflower Butter is priced at $6.98, which equates to approximately 43.6 cents per ounce. In comparison, a 16-ounce jar of Great Value Creamy Peanut Butter is priced at $1.94 (12.1 cents per ounce), and a 40-ounce jar is available for $3.98 (10.0 cents per ounce). Similarly, a 16-ounce jar of Jif Creamy Peanut Butter is priced at $2.80 (17.5 cents per ounce), and a 40-ounce jar costs $6.97 (17.4 cents per ounce). Therefore, SunButter is significantly more expensive than peanut butter at Walmart, with a price difference ranging from approximately 26.1 to 33.6 cents more per ounce, depending on the peanut butter brand and jar size. Also, at Wegmans, the price of their store-brand peanut butter is significantly lower than that of their sunflower butter. Specifically, an 18-ounce jar of Wegmans Creamy Peanut Butter is priced at $1.99, which equates to approximately $0.11 per ounce. In contrast, a 16-ounce jar of Wegmans Organic Creamy Sunflower Butter is available for $5.39, translating to about $0.34 per ounce. Sunflower butter is again more than three times as expensive per ounce compared to peanut butter at Wegmans.

A few years ago, I started volunteering with my family at FeedMore WNY in Buffalo. Many families in low-income households depend on donations from food banks such as FeedMore WNY. While volunteering packing food with my dad last year, I noticed that the only protein available for many of the “backpacks” sent home for children to ensure they had meals on the weekends was peanut butter. I noticed that the bags contained a variety of foods from various food groups, but that peanut butter was the main protein option. I wondered, “What does a child who is allergic to peanuts do for their protein?”

I went home that night and decided to contact SunButter to ask for a corporate donation to FeedMore WNY. They responded right away and said that due to shipping costs, they normally only donate to their local food pantry in Fargo, North Dakota—but that they would make a one-time donation to FeedMore WNY for SunButter! In February of 2024, the donation was received by FeedMore and the Manager at FeedMore shared that the families loved it.

This was a very rewarding experience to be able to build a bridge between people with food allergies, SunButter, and FeedMore WNY. I am very grateful to SunButter for their generous one-time donation all the way from North Dakota to Buffalo, but there is so much more that needs to be done!

I hope to make safe, delicious, lunchbox-friendly food available to everyone! I am creating this GoFundMe to raise enough money to purchase more SunButter to donate to FeedMore WNY, and plan on asking the SunButter Corporation to match what I am able to raise! My goal is to raise at least $1500. Safe protein spreads should be accessible to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status and zip code.

Thank you for your support and for helping me “Spread the Love” to everyone!