Cornbread Nation 7: The Best of Southern Food Writing

The Southern Foodways Alliance

271 The Southern Foodways Alliance The Southern Foodways Alliance, founded in 1999, documents, studies, and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. We set a common table where black and white, rich and poor—all who gather—may consider our history and our future in a spirit of reconciliation. A member-supported nonprofit, based at the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, we collect oral histories, produce documentary films, sponsor scholarship, stage symposia, and publish great writing. DOCUMENT Documentary projects are central to the SFA’s mission. Oral history interviews and documentary films not only capture the stories of our region for future generations, they illuminate people and place. Since the formal inception of our documentary initiative in 2005, we have collected more than eight hundred oral histories—tales about barbecue and boudin, tamales and tupelo honey. We catalog our oral history archive online. Additionally, we share these stories through podcasts, smart phone apps, and various social media platforms. Each year, the SFA produces several films in concert with the University of Mississippi ’s Southern Documentary Project. Our subjects range from goat cheese artisans to fried pie cooks, from buttermilk producers to barbecue pit masters. All films may be streamed through our website. STUDY The SFA is the foremost national resource focused on the study and living history of Southern foodways. As an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, at the the southern foodways alliance 272 University of Mississippi, we take seriously our charge to contribute to academic dialogues about food. Academic rigor underscores our work. We host a lecture series that focuses on foodways topics. We aid students by offering internships and graduate assistantships. In the fall of 2011, we welcomed our first postdoctoral teaching fellow. In the fall of 2014 we welcome a tenure-track professor to campus. CELEBRATE By way of symposia on food culture and other public programs, the SFA celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South. For a look at our coming calendar, visit www.southernfoodways.org. SFA FOUNDING MEMBERS Ann Abadie, Oxford, Miss. Kaye Adams, Birmingham, Ala. Jim Auchmutey, Atlanta, Ga. Marilou Awiakta, Memphis, Tenn. Ben Barker, Durham, N.C. Ella Brennan, New Orleans, La. Ann Brewer, Covington, Ga. Karen Cathey, Arlington, Va. Leah Chase, New Orleans, La. Al Clayton, Jasper, Ga. Mary Ann Clayton, Jasper, Ga. Shirley Corriher, Atlanta, Ga. Norma Jean Darden, NewYork, N.Y. Crescent Dragonwagon, Eureka Springs, Ark. Nathalie Dupree, Social Circle, Ga. John T. Edge, Oxford, Miss. John Egerton, Nashville, Tenn. Lolis Eric Elie, New Orleans, La. John Folse, Donaldsonville, La. Terry Ford, Ripley, Tenn. Psyche Williams Forson, Beltsville, Md. Damon Lee Fowler, Savannah, Ga. Vertamae Grosvenor, Washington, D.C. Jessica B. Harris, Brooklyn, N.Y. Cynthia Hizer, Covington, Ga. Portia James, Washington, D.C. Martha Johnston, Birmingham, Ala. Sally Belk King, Richmond, Va. Sarah Labensky, Columbus, Miss. Edna Lewis, Atlanta, Ga. Rudy Lombard, Chicago, Ill. Ronni Lundy, Louisville, Ky. Louis Osteen, Charleston, S.C. Marlene Osteen, Charleston, S.C. Timothy W. Patridge, Atlanta, Ga. Paul Prudhomme, New Orleans, La. Joe Randall, Savannah, Ga. Marie Rudisill, Hudson, Fla. Dori Sanders, Clover, S.C. Richard Schweid, Barcelona, Spain Ned Shank, Eureka Springs, Ark. Kathy Starr, Greenville, Miss. Frank Stitt, Birmingham, Ala. Pardis Stitt, Birmingham, Ala. Marion Sullivan, Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Van Sykes, Bessemer, Ala. John Martin Taylor, Charleston, S.C. Toni Tipton-Martin, Austin, Tex. Jeanne Voltz, Pittsboro, N.C. Charles Reagan Wilson, Oxford, Miss. the southern foodways alliance 273 ABOUT JOHN T. EDGE John T. Edge (www.johntedge.com) is the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. He writes a monthly column, “United Tastes,” for the New York Times, is a contributing editor at Garden and Gun, and a longtime columnist for the Oxford American. His work for Saveur and other magazines has been featured in six editions of the Best Food Writing compilation. He has been nominated for four James Beard Foundation awards, including the M. F. K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. In 2009, he was inducted into Beard’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America. He is a coeditor of the Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook. ...