Order of the Okra
On behalf of the Southern Foodways Alliance, members of the SFA Board of Directors invite you to join the Order of the Okra.
Over the last five years, the SFA has grown from a windmill-tilting regional organization to an often-emulated national organization that leads the foodways field and inspires like-minded efforts across the country.
Our oral history program, now more than 500 interviews strong, is the most robust in the nation. Our documentary film work is winning awards and proving that, while the prevailing ethic defines food as a problem to be solved, our focus on celebratory activism is ascendant. We’re programming events that challenge convention, and we’re teaching a new generation of students to use smart cultural methodologies for exploring place and people.
SFA is on a roll. The Times of London, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, Time, and Food & Wine, have profiled our work in recent articles, while Travel + Leisure honored the SFA with a Global Vision Award, recognizing individuals and organizations “working to preserve the world's natural and man-made treasures.”
If the SFA is to reach its true potential, however, we need funds to expand our reach and make good on our 10-year strategic plan. We need funds to pay our staff wages commensurate with their expertise, intellect, and engagement. And we need funds to develop innovative culture-focused programming for our diverse audiences.
We seek a minimum of 50 motivated and devoted SFA-ers to donate $1,000 per year for a 10-year term. For your philanthropic investment, members in the Order of the Okra will be recognized as SFA underwriters and will receive SFA–designed lapel pins, inspired by a pod of okra, our region’s totemic vegetable.
To learn more, email sfadesk@olemiss.edu. To donate, click here, where you will be taken to the UM Foundation Web page and given options to fulfill your pledge.
