More Than Just a Pig Ear

A big part of our mission here at the SFA is to document the stories behind the food and bring them to a larger audience. We're stoked that an Associated Press article on the SFA's documentary work has appeared in newspapers from the Washington Post to the New Orleans Times-Picayune in recent days. The article spotlights Geno Lee, the fourth-generation proprietor of Jackson, Mississippi's Big Apple Inn. Lee was the recipient of the SFA's 2009 Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award. If you haven't seen it already, check out Joe York's film about Lee, Smokes & Ears.
(Photograph of Geno Lee by Rogelio Solis/A.P.)

SOUTHERN FOOD: Twenty-five years later

In his inaugural column on The Oxford American's newly spiffed-up website, Rien Fertel pens an ode to John Egerton on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Egerton's seminal Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History.

A Great Week at SFA World Headquarters

2012 Oral History Workshop Group

Many thanks to the students who made their way to Oxford to listen, learn, and document. It was a wonderful week, and we here at SFA look forward to following their careers in the field of oral history and sharing news of the stories they collect.

Keep in touch, y'all!

2012 Oral History Workshop Students:

SANDRA DAVIDSON

PhD candidate in History, University of Houston: Mexican American History

RACHEL DERUSHA

Junior, University of Michigan: Spanish, mathematics & K-12 Instruction

TASHINA EMERY

Freshman, University of Michigan

LARRYSHA JONES

MA candidate, History - Armstrong Atlantic State University – Savannah, GA

NAYA JONES 

PhD candidate, Geography and the Environment - University of Texas at Austin.

KELLY LANDRIEU

MA candidate, Urban & Regional Planning – University of New Orleans

MARK PATERNOSTRO

BA candidate, Anthropology – University of New Orleans

NICK ROLAND (not pictured)

PhD candidate, American History – The University of Texas at Austin

SHERRI SHEU

MA candidate, American Studies – University of Texas at Austin

KIMBER THOMAS

PhD candidate, Afr0-American Studies – UCLA

LAN TRUONG

MS candidate, Plant Science - CUNY – Lehman College – Bronx, NY

KATHLEEN TURNER

Center for Writing & Rhetoric Instructor – University of Mississippi

Workshop Wrap-Up: Just One of the Stories Behind the Food

Our oral history workshop is coming to a close. We spent the week learning all about the art of the interview, as well as how to process and archive files. We finished our time together by crafting this short audio slideshow of our visit with Doug Davis of Yokna Bottoms Farm.

As the twelve students who took part in this year's workshop make their way towards home, they're taking the skills they acquired back with them--to Georgia, Michigan, Texas, New York, California, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 

Go forth and document! Or, in the words of one workshop participant, "Biscuits, bacon, okra--onward!"

Southern Six-Pack

SFA's second annual Oral History Workshop got rolling this week. Twelve budding oral historians hailing from California to New York and everywhere in between gathered here at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture to learn oral history best practices from the indefatigable, Amy Evans.

We're also pretty tickled to welcome Sara Camp Arnold to team SFA.  Sara Camp turned in her Masters Thesis in Folklore at the University of North Carolina, loaded up her car, and headed to Oxford to become SFA's Content Manager.  Let's celebrate both Amy and Sara Camp with a six-pack!

1.  Amanda Hess and Emily Wallace introduce us to David Edwards and an imagined world where we might breathe our food.

2.  High Fructose Corn Syrup tried putting on airs and calling itself corn sugar.  The FDA put HFCS in its place.

3.  Cafe Reconcile, a New Orleans non-profit,  probably saved Ryan Dalton's life.  Now Ryan Dalton, floor trainer for Cafe Reconcile in Central City, is paying that extraordinary gift forward.

4.  In about four weeks, no bake desserts will mean wedges of cold watermelon or bowls of sliced peaches.  Until then, the test kitchens at the LA Times have your back.

5.  Having barely survived the cola wars of the late 1980's, Pepsico has a new foe:  the Knights Templar drug cartel.

6.  An asparagus opera debuted this week at Harvard's Graduate School of Design.  Really, asparagus?  You want to throw down with the collard green?  We don't like your chances.

Craig Claiborne Exhibit Debuts

Our newest traveling exhibit, "Craig Claiborne: Food Journalism Pioneer and Arbiter of Culinary Culture," made its debut today at the University of Mississippi's Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. The eight panels tell the story of Claiborne's life and journalism career from Sunflower, Mississippi, to the New York Times dining column and beyond. Be sure to check it out if you're in Oxford this summer. If you would like to host the exhibit in the future, please contact Georgeanna Chapman at georgeanna.chapman@gmail.com.

Oral History Workshop Group Heads Into the Field

Yokna Bottoms Farm sign by Kathleen Turner

On Wednesday, workshop students followed SFA oral historian Amy Evans Streeter into the field to interview Doug Davis, owner of Yokna Bottoms Farm in Oxford.

Workshop group follows Yokna Bottoms Farm owner Doug Davis to the fields
by Lan Truong 

Doug walked us down to the fields, where we got a tour of the farm and began the interview.

Students watch Amy Evans Streeter interview Doug Davis by Kimber Thomas

Students witnessed Amy's interview technique and took photographs to document the farm.

Workshop group poses with Doug Davis after the interview by Larrysha Jones

Many thanks to Doug for welcoming our group and sharing his story.

Smokin' with Singleton

Yesterday George Singleton sent us this photo of himself smoking a couple of pork shoulders outside his writing shack in upstate South Carolina. His dog Dooley serves as co-pitmaster.

If you're not familiar with Singleton's writing, find yourself one of his knockout short fiction collections, which include Drowning in Gruel, The Half-Mammals of Dixie, and These People Are Us. Singleton, who wrote about his high-school barbecue adventures for the last issue of Gravy, will also speak at our barbecue symposium in October. His newest story collection, Stray Decorum (Dzanc Books), hits shelves in September.

Smoke on, George!

Update from the Classroom: 2012 Oral History Workshop

Thirteen students from across the country arrived in Oxford on Tuesday to take part in our annual oral history workshop. The group spent the first day learning SFA-devised methods and techniques as they relate to conducting foodways fieldwork.

Yesterday, the group accompanied SFA oral historian Amy Evans Streeter to Yokna Bottom Farms, where they watched Amy conduct an interview and took documentary photographs.

Today, they're back in the classroom, learning how to process their work--one step closer to having all the tools they need to collect the stories behind the food.

Meet the Polished Pig

The SFA is pleased as pork to introduce you to our brand-new partners at Polished Pig Media. Melany Mullens and Michelle Charak will help us keep you informed about SFA news and special events.

Melany Mullens is a Virginia native who founded Polished Pig Media in early 2012. She’s lived in Chicago, Park City, and Charleston, before returning home to Roanoke. When she’s not "polishing the pig," you'll find Melany knee-deep in her garden, running muddy trails, water skiing, or biking in the mountains.

Michelle Charak was born in Chicago and raised in Houston. She later moved to Milan, Italy, where she explored and ate throughout Europe, from Lisbon to Tallinn. Now, living in New York, she enjoys eating, cooking, learning about wine, doing yoga, running, or exploring the crevices of the city.

Stay tuned for more to come from these ladies who say they like things shiny but aren’t afraid to get a little dirty.