Welcome to the SFA

Welcome to the Southern Foodways Alliance -- an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture with headquarters at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.

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.

Camp Athens: An Edible Education
in Oilcloth and White Linen

Join the SFA for Camp Athens: An Edible Education in Oilcloth and White Linen. Meals and lectures from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on April 8 will explore connections between traditional meat-and-three cooking of institutions like Wilson’s Soul Food and the haute Southern cuisine of boîtes like Five & Ten.

Also on tap: Bloody Marys to start the day. Music-themed and art-themed edible open houses. Talks by scholars like Jim Cobb.

Most folks will head home in the early evening, but late night revelers may opt for a post-Forty Watt grease feed that conjures the universal appeal of college day debauchery.

Host chef is Hugh Acheson.

Guest chefs are Ben and Karen Barker (Magnolia Grill, Durham, NC), Sonya Jones (Sweet Auburn Bread, Atlanta, GA), Scott Peacock (Watershed, Decatur, GA), and Frank Stitt (Highlands, Birmingham, AL).

N.B.: In keeping with our theme, registration cost will be no more than $75 per person. Want to register? Drop us a line at sfamail@olemiss.edu and we will reply in a few days with confirming details.

Download a Day Camp Handbook here (371KB) in Adobe PDF format. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required.)

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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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Southern Foodways Forum on eGullet.org

The SFA is pleased to announce its first online partnership with eGullet.org, a non-profit "society of culinary arts and letters." Their new Southern Food Culture forum is a bulletin board for SFA members and other interested foodies to discuss issues and dishes near to their hearts, minds and tastebuds.

check out the new forum...