Friday's Night Market at the Nashville Farmers' Market was wonderful in so many ways, from the local vegetables to the Triple L Ranch oxtails. But mostly because I ran into John Egerton, whom I rarely see despite the fact that he's my neighbor a block away.
Egerton already had a long career in what was then called race relations behind him when he wrote Southern Food in the 1980s, followed by other books on food and race relations. He was there for the organization of the Southern Foodways Alliance in 1998. And despite all his accomplishments, he's so modest that he'd never bothered to mention that his name is on a prize offered by the Southern Foodways Alliance.
The Egerton Prize awards a grant of $5,000 for artists, writers, scholars, and others — including artisans and farmers and cooks—whose work in the American South addresses issues of race, class, gender, and social and environmental justice, through the lens of food. (Community Food Advocates, Martha Stamps, and many others, I'm lookin' at you!) The prize identifies people whose work would benefit from greater freedom, support, and exposure.
The nominating period runs through the end of March. Submit a nomination of 50 words or less to sfamail(at)olemiss.edu. Candidates should:
1) live or work in the American South
2) exhibit exceptional creativity
3) apply the rubric of food to their work
4) have the potential to make a genuine difference in one or more fields
5) stand to truly benefit from a $5,000 investment in their work
