According to John T. Edge, why was food important, or relevant, to the Civil Rights
Movement? Similarly, why was food central to the Black Power movement?
2. In the 1960s and 1970s, southern food found its way onto fast food menus, hippie
communes, public television shows, and even into the White House, with the election of
Jimmy Carter in 1976. In essence, southern food became American food, widely adopted
and seemingly representative of the modern South. The ever-growing popularity of
southern food generated debates about authenticity (i.e. what’s “real” southern food) and
the price of commercialization, e.g. fast food versions of southern foods and imposter
versions of southern food.
What role did southern men and women play in popularizing the region’s foodways? To
unpack it further, what are some examples of southern food going “national”? What
foods ultimately come to define “southern cuisine” for a new era of consumers and eaters
in the 1960s and 1970s?
3. Even as fast food chains sold a version of southern food, others chafed against that mode
of eating. What models of food production and consumption were celebrated by Stephen
Gaskin and members of the Farm, Edna Lewis, and writers documenting roadside cafes
and the hidden gems far off the beaten path? In other words, why did their ideas about
authentic southern food become equally popular?
4. How has southern food changed since the 1970s, and why? How might we define
“southern” today? [see chapters 14,15, 16]
5. Last, but certainly not least, what is one food that’s especially important to your own
food history? Describe in a paragraph or two a dish, or food item, which has personal
significance for you, and how it’s connected to your past and your sense of place (i.e.
where you’re from—both in terms of family history and geographic place)
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