OXFORD, Miss. – The state of Southern food is the focus of
the 10th annual Southern Foodways Symposium Thursday
through Sunday (Oct. 25-28) at the University of
Mississippi.
Nearly 300 people are expected to gather for the sold-out
event to think critically about the role of the Southern
Foodways Alliance in documenting and celebrating the
diverse food cultures of the American South. SFA is an
institute of UM’s Center for the Study of Southern
Culture.
Although the symposium is sold out, the public can attend
two symposium sessions Thursday (Oct. 25) free of charge: A
panel discussion of SFA’s history at 4 p.m. in the Tupelo
Room of Barnard Observatory, and the foodways edition of
the Thacker Mountain Radio Show at 5:30 p.m. in Nutt
Auditorium of Scruggs Hall.
The history of SFA session, titled “A Glance Through the
Grease,” features a panel of experts who plan to examine
the symposium from its inception to its current form,
explore its relevance and make predictions about its
future. Panelists are Malcom White, director of the
Mississippi Arts Commission; Fred Sauceman, executive
assistant to the president for university relations at East
Tennessee State University; Jessica Harris, Ray Charles
Endowed Chair in African American Material Culture at
Dillard University; and SFA director John T. Edge.
The Thacker Mountain show includes guest Dave Wondrich,
Esquire magazine columnist and author of the forthcoming
book “Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a
Salute in Stories and Drinks to Professor’ Jerry Thomas,
Pioneer of the American Bar Featuring the Origina” (Perigee
Trade, 2007); as well as NPR favorites Roy Blount, Southern
food enthusiast and author of “Long Time Leaving” (Knopf,
2007); and The Kitchen Sisters Davia Nelson and Nikki
Silva, authors of “Hidden Kitchens” (Rodel Press 2006).
Throughout its history, the SFA has looked at the South
through the lens of food, examining culture, history, race,
class and gender at the table and in the kitchen.
“I think it’s exciting SFA is examining the state of food
10 years out,” said SFA board president Marcie Ferris,
assistant professor at the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill. “The symposium allows us to bring in
scholars from around the country who look at food from a
variety of perspectives and gives us the opportunity for
people from different professions and the scholarly
community to intersect.”
Symposium registrants include cooks, chefs, food writers
and scholars. Besides seeking to better understand Southern
food and culture, attendees plan to pay homage to the
subjects of SFA’s oral history initiative and enjoy food
prepared by local restaurateur John Currence and a stellar
crew of guest chefs from throughout the region.
The SFA has been a pioneer in the academic study of food.
Food studies programs are now found at New York University,
Cornell University and the University of California at
Davis, among others. Recently, the estate of the late Ray
Charles endowed Dillard University with a $1 million gift
to create a chair in African-American Material Culture. The
endowed chair allows Dillard to research, teach and publish
about the historical and cultural impact of the foods of
the African diaspora.
SFA oral history programs also lead the field. As an
example, in 2007, SFA oral historian Amy Evans partnered
with Elizabeth Engelhardt’s graduate class in American
foodways at the University of Texas to collect oral
histories with Texas barbecue pitmasters.
“Our partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance
allowed us to bring our classroom knowledge into the Austin
community and learn from, as well as contribute to, people
who have developed, preserved and are the future of central
Texas barbecue,” said Engelhardt, associate professor. “We
are better writers, listeners, scholars and community
partners as a result. SFA provided the catalyst to the
study of food in the American Studies department at the
University of Texas at Austin; we look forward to many more
years of such work.”
Engelhardt’s work has been published in the anthology
“Cooking Lessons: The Politics of Gender and Food,” (Rowman
& Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2001) edited by Sherrie
Inness.
Primary sponsors of the symposium include Anson Mills,
Biltmore Estate Wine Co., The Catfish Institute, the Fertel
Foundation, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Jim ‘N Nick’s
Bar-B-Que, the McIlhenny Co., the National Peanut Board,
R&B Feder Charitable Foundation for the Beaux Arts, Viking
Range and White Lily.
For more information, including how to become a member of
SFA, visit
http://www.southernfoodways.com
or call 662-915-5993. To learn more about UM’s Center for
the Study of Southern Culture, visit
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/.
For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-5993.