Today in Odd Partnerships: Planters Peanuts has developed and paid for a new park that just opened in a public housing unit on Avenue D, called Planters Grove, that is shaped, appropriately, like a peanut.
"With the goal of promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainable living, Kraft Foods’ Planters brand has partnered with The Corps Network—the nation’s Service and Conservation Corps —to transform underutilized land into unique, peanut-shaped parks across America,"reads a release posted by EV Grieve. The peanut-shaped park, which was designed by the same landscape architect who installed the roof garden at MoMA, is lined with edible herbs that also conveniently help keep rats away.
While Fork in the Road worries that Planters Grove will lead to more corporately sponsored parks ("Do you really want your children associating fun and the outdoors with Doritos? Or have them frolicking on a Snickers-shaped slide or Bugles swingset?"), we're actually curious if the park is an effort to revamp peanut's public image. With the huge rise in peanut allergies in recent years leading to drastic measures like peanut-free stadiums and peanut-free schools, it's been a tough time for peanuts.
