Southern Foodways: How to Eat Out Like a Local
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays as part of our collaboration with the Southern Foodways Alliance, an organization based in Oxford, Mississippi, that "documents and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South." Dig in!
Culinary Tourism is a thing—a big thing. So big, it has its own industry group: the International Culinary Tourism Association. Municipalities work to sell their local food scene as tourist-worthy. The National Trust for Historic Preservation names a Dozen Distinctive Destinations each year, cities chosen in part for their culinary diversity and draw. All in all, this probably is a bandwagon worth jumping on because when culinary tourism thrives, it’s local restaurants, artisans, and farmers who benefit.
Engaging in culinary tourism is actually pretty easy. It doesn’t require taking days off work, buying a ticket, or paying an admission fee. Rather, it requires only a commitment to getting off the interstate and resisting the urge to pull into a fast food drive-thru.
