Southern Foodways Alliance ( SFA ) is an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi , dedicated to the documentation, study and exploration of the foodways of the American South . Member-funded, it stages events, recognizes culinary contributions with awards and a hall of fame, produces documentary films, publishes writing, and maps the region’s culinary institutions recording oral history interviews. The group has about 800 members, a mixture of chefs, academics, writers, and eaters.
19-630: John T. Edge , a writer and commentator, has served as the director of the SFA since its foundation in 1999. A journalist, John Egerton , was one of the group's founders. In 2007, the SFA established the John Egerton Prize to recognize annually selected "artists, writers, scholars, and others—including artisans and farmers—whose work in the American South addresses issues of race, class, gender, and social and environmental justice , through
38-550: A documentary film is made about them. Claiborne Award recipients: In the Atlantic Monthly , Corby Kummer described the SFA as: “this country’s most intellectually engaged (and probably most engaging) food society." John T. Edge John T. Edge (born December 22, 1962) is a writer, commentator, and from 1999 to 2020 was director of the Southern Foodways Alliance , an institute of
57-474: A painter, writer, and teacher. They have one son, Jess. Jones County, Georgia Jones County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia . As of the 2020 census , the population was 28,347. The county seat is Gray . The county was created on December 10, 1807, and named after U.S. Representative James Jones . Jones County, along with Morgan County , Putnam County , and Old Randolph , were established by an act of
76-431: A plantation a few miles north of Round Oak , before 1810. In December 1810 Jones County gained a portion of Putnam County between Cedar Creek and their original border. In December 1822 Bibb County was established and Jones County lost some of its land to that county. During the early 19th century, Jones County had a rapid population increase. The peak came around 1835, when the county ranked third or fourth among all of
95-543: A trial. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 395 square miles (1,020 km ), of which 394 square miles (1,020 km ) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km ) (0.4%) is water. The western half of Jones County, west of Gray, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The northeastern quarter of the county, north of Gray,
114-687: The Battle of Griswoldville took place in the area. The town of Griswoldville was not rebuilt. Many other areas in Jones County were damaged by the Union Army during that time period. The Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site in Jones County showcases one of the few and well-preserved antebellum plantations in Georgia. In the 1890s a railroad line owned by the Central of Georgia Railway named
133-699: The Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi . He has written several books on Southern food. For 21 years (1999-2020) he contributed to the Oxford American and for three years he contributed to the New York Times . He writes a column for Garden & Gun and has written for, among others, Afar . In 2017, he published The Potlikker Papers , a food history of
152-578: The 1850s. During the Civil War, the cotton gin factory was reformatted so it could produce pistols and other weapons for the Confederate Army. Griswoldville was located on the railway linking Macon to Savannah, and became a prime target in 1864 as the Union Army moved through Georgia. On November 20, 1864, the town and the factories in it were burned as part of Sherman's March to the Sea . Days later
171-606: The Georgia General Assembly on December 10, 1807, from land that had originally been part Baldwin County in 1803 and, earlier, part of the Creek Nation. Jones County was originally bounded by a line running north 56° east to Commissioners Creek, then north 15° west to Cedar Creek, then up the creek to corner Randolph County and Putnam County, then along a line to Ocmulgee River , then down the river to where
190-962: The MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation . His work has also been featured in 10 editions of the Best Food Writing Anthology. In 2013, he guest appeared on an episode of the Travel Channel 's Burger Land . Since 2018 he has hosted the SEC Network / ESPN television show TrueSouth . Edge was born in the rural community of Clinton, in Jones County, Georgia . He lives in Oxford, Mississippi , with his wife, Blair Hobbs,
209-469: The Macon & Northern Railroad was built through the county and bypassed Clinton by a mile after citizens wanted the line to not pass through the town. By the early 1900s the population had shifted northeastward and the city of Gray was established. On June 27, 1905, the citizens of Jones County voted on the issues of moving the county seat from Clinton to Gray. The results were 1,289 votes in favor of moving
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#1732776406051228-548: The Southern Foodways Alliance sponsors a symposium in Oxford, Mississippi , on American southern cuisine . Edge was one of the primary organizers and the master of ceremonies for the many events, which attracted several hundred attendees. The SFA also engages in oral history work, makes films, and stages other events. Edge retired from the SFA in 2021. He now teaches at the University of Mississippi and
247-714: The University of Georgia and directs the Mississippi Lab at the University of Mississippi. Edge has authored numerous books detailing how America eats, including, "The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South," Fried Chicken: An American Story , Apple Pie: An American Story , Southern Belly , and The Truck Food Cookbook . Edge has been a regular contributor for the weekend edition of NPR 's All Things Considered and has appeared on various television shows including CBS Sunday Morning and Iron Chef . He has won 4 James Beard awards. In 2012, he won
266-509: The county seat to Gray and 51 votes for keeping the county seat at Clinton. On August 9, 1905, Gray became the new county seat of Jones County. Father and son Alonzo and James D. Green were innocent African-Americans lynched near Round Oak and Wayside , Jones County in retaliation for the murder of popular white farmer Silas Hardin Turner on July 4, 1915. A third man, William Bostick, was also lynched on this day. None of those killed received
285-498: The county seat. The town was renamed Clinton and was established as the county seat by the Georgia General Assembly on December 22, 1808. Clinton was incorporated as in 1816. During the 1800s Clinton grew as a center of commerce and the cotton trade. Clinton remained one of the most populous cities in Georgia in the mid-1800s. Among the earliest settlers of the county were Thomas White (1781-1830) and Elizabeth Haynes Clark (1788-1856), of Orange County, Virginia , who established
304-593: The lens of food." John Martin Taylor was also a founding member. Current board members include Francis Lam and Rob Long . The annual Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award is made jointly by the Southern Foodways Alliance and the Fertel Foundation , and honors an unsung hero or heroine who has made a great contribution to food. The award was first made in 2000. The honoree receives a monetary award and
323-577: The modern South. John T. studied at the University of Georgia . Edge holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from Goucher College . In 1999, Edge became the founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance , an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi . Every October,
342-599: The old county line between Wilkinson County and Baldwin County was. It excluded parts of what is now Bibb County east of the Ocmulgee River, including the location of Fort Benjamin Hawkins , as they were part of a reserve guaranteed to the Creek Nation. Those areas were later added to Jones County after the Treaty of Indian Springs . During the initial months of the county's existence, a town known as Albany served as
361-482: The state's counties in agricultural wealth. After 1835, soil erosion and lack of funds to develop property drove many farmers to newly opened land elsewhere in Georgia. Before the American Civil War, a few factories sprang up in the county, including a cotton gin factory at Griswoldville in the southern portion of the county and a woolen factory at Wallace. Griswoldville was founded by Samuel Griswold in
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