Our Parent Organization

Established in 1977 at the University of Mississippi, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture has become a focal point for innovative education and research by promoting scholarship on every aspect of Southern culture.

The Center offers both B.A. and M.A. degrees in Southern Studies and is well known for its public programs including the annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha conference and the Conference for the Book.

Visit the CSSC's website. (opens in new window)

About the SFA and its Mission

The Southern Foodways Alliance documents and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the 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.

We stage symposia on food culture, produce documentary films, publish compendiums of great writing, and – perhaps most important – preserve, promote, and chronicle our region’s culinary standard bearers. We’re talking white tablecloth chefs and fried chicken cooks, barbecue pitmasters and peanut farmers.

The SFA is a member-supported organization of more than 800 people. Chefs and academics, writers and eaters: all are active participants. Though we are a lean and efficient organization with a three-person staff, our work has great impact. In the Atlantic Monthly, Corby Kummer dubbed the SFA “this country’s most intellectually engaged food society.”

Won't you join this unique cultural endeavor? Click here for membership information.

SFA Board of Directors

An unpaid board of directors, elected by the membership, governs the SFA. Current board members include:

• Brett Anderson (New Orleans LA)
• Bill Andrews (Greenwood MS)
• Scott Barton (New York NY)
• Ann Cashion (Washington DC)
• Lolis Elie (New Orleans LA)
• Marcie Ferris (Chapel Hill NC)
• John Fleer (Walland TN)
• Linton Hopkins (Atlanta GA)
• Adrian Miller (Denver CO)
• Angie Mosier (Atlanta GA)
• Audrey Petty (Urbana IL)
• Mike "Rathead" Riley (Bristol VA)
• Sara Roahen (Philadelphia PA)

Ex Officio Members:

• Ann Abadie (Oxford MS)
• John T Edge (Oxford MS)

SFA Corporate Members

610 Magnolia (Louisville KY)

American Foodways Press (Indianapolis IN)

America’s Peanut Farmers (Atlanta GA)

Anson Mills (Columbia SC)

Atlanta Brewing Company (Atlanta GA)

Bacchanalia (Atlanta GA)

Be Square Productions

Biltmore Estate (Asheville NC)

Blackberry Farm (Walland TN)

Brown-Forman/ Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey (Louisville KY)

The Catfish Institute (Jackson MS)

City House (Nashville TN)

Commander's Palace (New Orleans LA)

Cracker Barrel

Delta Magazine (Cleveland MS)

Fertel Foundation (New Orleans LA)

F.I.G. (Charleston SC)

Garretson Wine Company (Paso Robles CA)

Glory Foods (Columbus OH)

Grassroots Wine (Birmingham AL)

Green Olive Media (Atlanta GA)

Harper's Restaurants (Charlotte NC)

Hays Stores Inc. (Blytheville AR)

Hoffman Media/Taste of the South (Birmingham AL)

Hominy Grill (Charleston SC)

Hot and Hot Fish Club (Birmingham AL)

Hunter Public Relations (New York NY)

Jim 'N Nick's (Birmingham AL)

John Folse & Company (Gonzales LA)

Johnny’s Half Shell (Washington DC)

The Kitchen Table (Hattiesburg MS)

Lantern Restaurant (Chapel Hill NC)

Leigh Oliver's (Tyler TX)

Lodge Manufacturing (South Pittsburg TN)

Lulu's at Homeport Marina (Gulf Shores AL)

Lynn's Paradise Cafe (Louisville KY)

Magnolia Grill (Durham NC)

Martin’s Bar-B-Q (Nashville TN)

The Market Place (Asheville NC)

The McIlhenny Company (Avery Island LA)

Memphis Minnie’s (San Francisco CA)

Palmetto Bluff (Bluffton SC)

Persimmon Creek Vineyards (Clayton GA)

Quaintance-Weaver (Greensboro NC)

The Ramey Agency (Jackson MS)

Red Pony Restaurant (Franklin TN)

Restaurant August (New Orleans LA)

Rio Mar (New Orleans LA)

Ron & Becky Feder Foundation for the Beaux Arts (Oceans Springs MS)

Serenbe (Palmetto GA)

Sieb (Phoenix AZ)

Southern Progress Corporation/Southern Living magazine (Birmingham AL)

SouthFresh Aquaculture (Oxford MS)

St. Joe Company (Jacksonville FL)

Bob Sykes (Bessemer AL)

Taqueria del Sol (Atlanta GA)

UGA Press (Athens GA)

Union Square Hospitality Group (New York NY)

Viking Range (Greenwood MS)

White Lily Foods (Knoxville TN)

Whole Foods (Austin TX)

Yazoo Brewing Company (Nashville TN)

Zingerman's (Ann Arbor MI)

The Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award

Each fall, the SFA (with support from the Fertel Foundation) honors an unsung hero or heroine, a foodways tradition bearer of note, with the Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award.

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