FEELING THE CRUNCH: The country's largest organic peanut processing plant is scrubbing its facilities top to bottom and hopes to get back in production soon after a massive recall of scores of products linked to a salmonella outbreak.
SWEET AND NUTTY: The plant is in eastern New Mexico, home to the prized Valencia peanut, which represents just a small percentage of the nation's massive peanut crop but is favored for natural and organic peanut butter products because of its sweet flavor.
SQUIRRELLING IT AWAY: This year's crop is exceptional, growers say, and peanuts store well, but anxiety is growing about whether the recall will affect sales of peanut butter and related products.