United States of America eSeries: Southern vineyards, good eats and a call to action

Southern vineyards, good eats and a call to action

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USA TODAY: Southern vineyards, good eats and a call to action

The American South

STORIES THAT CHALLENGE AND CELEBRATE US

Thursday, June 24

Southern vineyards, good eats and a call to action

The perfect day trip, wine included. A Black chef reflects on why he left the South and what brought him home. Plus, eight conversations on key issues.

Welcome to The American South!

If you're new here, thank you for subscribing and becoming a part of our community where we focus on producing revelatory journalism about the South.

Several weeks ago, after co-moderating a panel about social justice in Montgomery, I challenged The American South reporting team to pull together a series of one-on-one conversations about key issues of our time. We spoke to activists, historians and changemakers about everything from maternal health and climate change to immigration and LGBTQ rights.

You can read the full series, Shaping the South, here. Let me know what you think of these conversations. Does one in particular resonate with you?

In other news, if you're like most of the country, you've been getting out more. Maybe visiting a few restaurants to support those businesses coming out of the pandemic year, reunions with friends over drinks or perhaps a vacation. If you're staying close and like tasting wine, we have suggestions for you.

We also have a conversation that is part-food, part-homecoming with chef Matthew Raiford, who talks about the importance of the Gullah-Geechee culture, what it means to be a Black chef and the connection between farming and community.

Thank you for reading. Take good care.

Ashley Hopkinson (Editor, The American South)

P.S. These surprise family reunions will make you smile

Chef Matthew Raiford prefers spatchcook chicken in a cast iron skillet to fried chicken. He includes the recipe in his new cookbook "Bress 'n' Nyam." (Courtesy of The Countryman Press, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company)

Siobhan Egan

What's the South talking about?

•	North Carolina : Nikole Hannah-Jones won't join UNC faculty without tenure
•	Mississippi: First Lady Jill Biden talks COVID-19 vaccine safety, effectiveness
•	Memphis, Tennessee : A shelter to protect LGBTQ youth opens doors

7 vineyards to check out this summer

A glass of wine being poured

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

The South is known for many things. The region boasts great food, the kind of hospitality that makes anyone feel like family and more whiskey barrels than people. But if you think about the best places to grab a spectacular glass of wine, few people think of the states below the Mason-Dixon. Thankfully, that is beginning to change.

A Black chef reflects on why he left the South and what brought him home

Chef Matthew Riaford's first cookbook, "Bress 'n' Nyam," celebrates his Gullah-Geechee heritage. (Courtesy of The Countryman Press, a Division of W.W. Norton & Company)

Siobhan Egan

Excerpt on coming home

The American South : When you were 18 years old, you left the South and vowed never to live there again. Now you're back. How has the region changed? How does it still need to change?

Matthew Raiford: I am located in Brunswick, Georgia. Less than 10 minutes from my farm is where Ahmaud Arbery was murdered. To come back home and still have those things so blatantly in front of my face…that was one of the reasons that I left. Those are the things I pray will continue to change. I pray people learn that tolerance is needed more than ever before. What has changed is how people think of the South. Southern food is one of the first food trends that not only caught on but has never died. Every major city in the United States is trying to tout the most amazing Southern food -- biscuit, pie, barbecue. Over the last 20 years, Southern food has just taken on this life of its own. I believe in my heart of hearts that Southern foodways are not going to die out anytime soon.

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