Driven by consumers' desire for slow and local food, craft breweries,
traditional butchers, cheese makers and bakeries have been popping up
across the US in the last twenty years. Typically urban and staffed
predominantly by white middle class men, these industries are perceived
as a departure from tradition and mainstream lifestyles. But this image
obscures the diverse communities that have supported artisanal foods for
centuries. Using the oral histories of over 100 people, this book brings
to light the voices, experiences, and histories of marginalized groups
who keep Southern foodways alive. The larger than life stories of these
individuals reveal the complex reality behind the movement and show how
they are the backbone of the so-called new explosion of craft food.