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.

The Sweet Life – Sugar and the South

• Download streaming video here from the symposium. [Windows Media Player required. Go here to download the player for free.]

• Download the full program here (184KB) in Adobe PDF format. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required. )

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The eighth annual Southern Foodways Symposium was held October 27-30, 2005, on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford. This year we explored sugar and the sweet life. We traced the arc of sugar cane, from the islands of the Caribbean, through the plantations of Louisiana. We pondered the import of honey. We parsed Moon Pies. We viewed the world through molasses-colored glasses.

Sorghum and sweet potato pie. Iced tea and moonshine. Honey and the Bible. Cyclamates and the Devil. That's what we talked about. And when we were not talking, we were eating cane syrup- and cider-brined ham hocks with black-eyed peas, Cheerwine barbecued chicken, and sugar-cured country ham.Not to mention pecan pralines, triple crown brownies spiked with bourbon, and farmstead cheese swabbed with fig preserves.

As with previous symposia, this event provided opportunities for cooks,
chefs, food writers, and inquisitive eaters alike to come to a better
understanding of Southern cuisine and Southern culture. Lectures, held in
Johnson Commons, at the heart of the University of Mississippi campus, were complemented by informal lunches and dinners served in and around Oxford.

We expanded our Thursday afternoon offerings: In an effort to fulfill
requests for practical instruction in Southern cookery, we offered two
one-hour baking workshops. Hosted by James Beard Foundation award-winning pastry chef Karen Barker, these classes were open to thirty lucky
registrants. And in our ongoing effort to document Southern foodways through oral history work, Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva of the Kitchen Sisters lead a discussion and practicum. For those who wanted to stage an SFA event in your hometown, Angie Mosier told you how.

This year we screened another SFA-produced film, underwritten by the Fertel Foundation and directed by Joe York. Bartender Martin Sawyer of New Orleans is the focus. If you would like to get a preview of what makes his life a compelling film subject, read his oral history here.

We had a few new tricks up our sleeve as well. Jerri Banks served as Drink Muse for the weekend, stirring potions of tea and various adult elixirs. And nobody wanted to miss a visit to Martha Foose's cotton candy machine on Saturday night.

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Host for the symposium was the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.

Contributors to our efforts included Biltmore Estate Wine Company, Bottletree Bakery, Center for Media Productions and the Office of Outreach at the University of Mississippi, City Grocery, Culinard, Delta Blues Iced Tea Company, Lipman Brothers of Nashville, National Food Service Management Institute, North Carolina Pork Council, Savannah Bee Company, Slow Food U.S.A., Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Tabasco, and Yazoo Brewing Company.

Primary sponsors of the Southern Foodways Symposium:

• Fertel Foundation
• Glory Foods
• Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey
• R & B Feder Charitable Foundation for the Beaux Arts
• Southeast Dairy Association
• Southern Comfort
• Viking Range
• White Lily
• Woodford Reserve

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.