Eleventh International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Celebration of new chefs and restaurants and non-white and non-male Appalachian food voices has increased, while conversations about Appalachian food symbolizing the region’s white ethnic racism, nationalism, poverty, and ignorance have also intensified. By viewing food rhetorically, or as meaning-making, this essay intervenes in the long history of devaluing Appalachia by exploring how these messages counter, and sometimes, reinforce, tired stereotypes. Using theoretical lenses of circulation and migration and employing a rhetorical fieldwork methodology, the essay analyzes critically a variety of Appalachian food texts to assess the persuasive messages they share. Specifically, it focuses on the Blue Ridge or Mountain South, a sub-region that shares commonalities with other parts of the massive 1,000 mile long Appalachian region, evaluating the many contrasts that play an active role in creating the two versions of the Appalachian story seen frequently today: poor, white, fat, dumb Appalachia and hopeful, diverse, progressive Appalachia. It assesses Blue Ridge food culture by accounting for the everyday eateries that fuel the lives of Mountain residents by contrasting these establishments with those that are highlighted frequently in tourism literature. By rhetorically analyzing this part of the Appalachian food story, the essay speaks to growing interest in the region, which has received increased popular attention since 2016. Through this rhetorical approach that illustrates how food messages shape who people are, how they see themselves, and how they see others, food becomes a way to understand a changing region with a difficult past and challenging future.