Americans eat a lot of peanut butter — more than a million pounds a year. And our love of the peanut-y spread starts early — who didn’t eat PB&J’s in elementary school almost every day? People around the world, however, don’t really understand our fascination with Skippy. Nutella, maybe. But never peanut butter. So why the bitter taste? According to Brian Sternthal, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, “In many parts of the world, peanut butter is regarded as an unpalatable American curiosity.” MORE