SFA Greenhouse: Growing Stories Behind the Food
The Southern Foodways Alliance documents, studies and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. Central to this mission is our initiative to collect the stories behind the food. With our SFA Greenhouse program, we aim to help gather these tales and support burgeoning scholars and documentarians.
The SFA Greenhosue is small-budget initiative geared to assist collectors in telling the food stories in their local areas. To apply for SFA Greenhouse funds, please send us a letter describing your project, its importance, relevant information about costs and timetables for completion, as well examples of previous work or work already completed in support of your proposed project. Please send your letter to the SFA's oral historian, Amy Evans Streeter, at acevans@olemiss.edu. And please know that when we talk of money, we’re talking small potatoes, not monster rutabagas.
Deadline for Proposals: None. We're happy to review your propsal anytime. Please know that we ususally select one or two projects to support per year.
Production Schedule: Supported projects are to be completed within one year of the receipt of funds.
We have a few guidelines to help you decide if your project is right for our Greenhouse:
Is yours a food story? Not all food stories happen in a kitchen. Some begin in the field, others at the table. There are food stories in classrooms and offices, churches and local festivals. And good food stories are rarely just about the food. The best efforts that explore local foodways use food as a way to tell a larger story, one about history and family and community.
Is your story local? We believe that locals best know their communities. And we believe that there is value in collecting local history. We want to fund homegrown projects by people in their own communities. There’s a cost savings when we talk about travel and lodging, sure, but it’s also a way that we can guarantee the best local stories.
If you have a local story that needs to be shared, we encourage you to contact us and submit your project for consideration by our Greenhouse.
Please email acevans@olemiss.edu for inquiries.
• It Was There for Work: Pimento Cheese in the Carolina Piedmont Download the PDF
A graduate thesis by Emily Wallace. ABSTRACT: At its simplest, pimento cheese consists of cheddar, pimiento peppers, and mayonnaise. This thesis investigates the role of pimento cheese spread in regard to a particular history, place, and context within the Piedmont of North and South Carolina to provide a name and face to the men and women who have produced and consumed the food over the past century. The history and narratives woven together about pimento cheese reveal a simple and meaningful food that provides a window into working class experience, memory, and regional identity.
• Pimento Cheese, Please! Watch this film
An SFA Greenhouse film by Nicole Lang and Christophile Konstas. Learn about of one of the South's iconic foods and hear stories from the people who love it. This is a film about origins, ingredients, and matters of taste. It's also a paean to good mayonnaise.
• Hot-Dogopolis Watch this film
An SFA Greenhouse film by Eric Feldman by and Leyla Modirzadeh. Learn the story of the Greek community in Birmingham, Alabama, and see a part of their restaurant legacy in the lunch stands that make Birmingham a great Southern city for a hot dog.
• Buford HWY - A Home Away From Home Watch this slideshow
An SFA Greenhouse multimedia project by Rachel Bailey. Learn the story of Khanh Nguyen, Vietnamese refugee and owner of Saigon Deli along Buford HWY in Atlanta, Georgia, and get a glimpse into the culinary culture of what is arguably the South's oldest and most diverse international corridor.
It is the policy of the University of Mississippi not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, age, sexual orientation or being a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.
