Crafting the Cornbread Nation: The Southern Foodways Alliance and Southern Identity

Abstract

The Southern food movement does far more than just celebrate a delectable cuisine; it also may provide the ingredients for gradual social change. We argue that the Southern food movement, led by the Southern Foodways Alliance, helps to craft a Southern identity based on diverse, humble, and hospitable food. This rhetorically constitutive work—the food and discussions about Southern foodways (food habits)—has the potential to open up spaces for dialogue about Southern identity and to move individuals closer to a shared experience.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Tasha Dubriwny, Ellen Weinauer, Joyce Inman, and the reviewers for their advice on this article.