EK 14 - Southern Foodways - Melissa Booth Hall

The Southern Foodways Alliance was founded two decades ago by John T. Edge in Oxford, Mississippi as part of the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Their mission is to document, study, and explore the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. The SFA hosts and sponsors events and seminars, produces documentaries, publishes a regular journal called Gravy, as well as producing a Gravy podcast.

Co-hosting that podcast is Melissa Booth Hall who serves as managing director of the SFA and who originally hails from Middlesboro, Kentucky. Melissa is a graduate of Centre College and the Chase School of Law, but decided Southern food was a lot more fulfilling.

In this episode, Melissa and I discuss the state of restaurants in the South during the pandemic shutdown and how people are coming together to help restaurant workers, including through the Lee Initiative from right here in Kentucky.

Melissa discusses her work with the SFA, how she went from Middlesboro High School to Oxford, Mississippi, and how she honed her kitchen skills by cooking through Southern Living magazine. Plus, Melissa and I commiserate about the loss of March Madness for Kentuckians, and we have a  flashback to 1980s 13th Region high school basketball.

Southern Foodways Alliance Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Gravy Podcast

The Lee Initiative

Save Local Restaurants

 

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