Abstract
Cultural considerations of food consider the way people evaluate regional foodstuffs both by the residents of the region and from those outside. The Southern diet has been studied by historians, health professionals, and independent scholars in myriad approaches to the topic. Eating Southern has been criticized and demonized as unhealthy because people who live in the region have some of the highest rates of chronic disease in the United States. Health professionals across the spectrum design food consumption behavioral programs to alter eating patterns. Particular attention is given to African Americans' food consumption patterns dating back to the turn of the 20th century when food scarcity was rampant. The current situation involves food insecurity with excess kilocalories intake. Not the primary determinant of the so-called Southern diet to the health problems of the region; rather, poverty and inequality have a far greater impact on the health and wellness in the South, or elsewhere.