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.

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.

We now pay homage in two ways: We commission a documentary film and we make a monetary contribution.

Our first documentary film, "Saving Seeds," an homage to Kentucky bean and tomato farmer Bill Best, was a finalist for the Golden Snail award from Slow Food. And they’re getting better each year.

Past winners include:

• 2007 Elizabeth Scott -- tamale maker, Greenville, MS
• 2006 Tommy Ward -- oysterman, Apalachicola, FL
• 2005 Martin Sawyer -- bartender, New Orleans, LA
• 2004 Martha Hawkins -- restaurant owner, Montgomery, AL
• 2003 Bill Best -- bean and tomato farmer, Berea KY
• 2002 James Willis -- pitmaster, Memphis TN
• 2001 Ed Scott -- catfish farmer, Drew MS
• 2000 J.C. Hardaway -- pitmaster, Memphis TN

Join the SFA

Help the Southern Foodways Alliance celebrate, preserve, promote, and nurture the traditional and developing food culture of the American South.

Join us.