The academic grounding and professional production quality of SFA’s body of work is one of the main attractions for writers, historians, documentarians, journalists, professors, and other influencers.
Nancie McDermott, an SFA contributor and author from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, recalls a moving talk by scholar and culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris of Queens College/ CUNY about pralinières, the black women who gained financial independence by selling pralines on the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans in the mid-19th century.
“They are always bringing in these voices and thinkers and writers I would have never heard from otherwise,” said McDermott. SFA isn’t bound by student recruiting drives, construction capital campaigns, and tricky internal politics of academia, says Nystrom of Loyola.
“SFA is a lot more nimble and that gives them freedom to grow,” Nystrom said. “They have the academic bent, yet when people wake up on a Tuesday and want to do something creative and new, they can.”
In 2014, SFA introduced a Smith Symposium Fellows program that provides complimentary Fall Symposium passes and travel stipends to valued contributors such as academics and writers whose work promises a positive impact on the region and its foodways. Pam and Brook Smith underwrote the fellowship with a $250,000 gift.
Ashanté Reese, a professor of food studies, anthropology, and sociology at Spelman College in Atlanta who has written for SFA, was awarded a Smith Symposium Fellowship in 2017. Reese was inspired to see such a diverse group of academics, chefs, restaurateurs, and writers at a gathering that was convivial yet also tackled hard subjects like inequality in an academically grounded way.
“It was so different than an academic conference.” Reese said. “Sometimes it’s really hard to get focused on uncomfortable topics. It’s my sweet spot.”
Without the fellowship, the symposium’s $700 fee probably would have been unattainable for her. “The symposium is really expensive. I would not ever go if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to be selected as a Smith fellow,” said Reese, who is working on a book about neighborhoods, race, and food inequalities in Washington, D.C. Reese appreciates the fellowship. But that effort alone will not drive a “systematic structural change in the organization” that would open it up to more people, she said.
Broad reach and wide access is important to the SFA, which is one reason the organization hasn’t raised the $75 membership fee in a decade and makes much of the professionally produced content available for free on its website.
