Gravy Celebrates 100 Issues Focusing on Southern Food

Gravy started shortly after the alliance's 1999 founding as a simple member newsletter, with notices about upcoming events and news about the organization and its members. Founder John T. Edge and co-director Mary Beth Lasseter compiled the earliest issues.

Eventually, it began publishing original articles, poetry, recipes, interviews, illustrations and photography.

"Gravy aligns with SFA's mission by telling stories of the changing American South," said editor Sara Camp Milam, who joined the alliance's staff in 2012.

The journal tells those stories through fresh, unexpected and thought-provoking original narratives. 

In 2014, SFA launched the Gravy podcast, which has released more than 250 original episodes and can be found on all major podcast platforms. A year later, Gravy quarterly and podcast won a James Beard Foundation Award for publication of the year.

Stories from the magazine and podcast have been nominated for additional Beard Awards and have won awards from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Milam manages a small team of editors, designers and fact checkers. Each year, Gravy supports the work of some 100 freelance writers, illustrators, photographers and audio producers working in the South and beyond.

The 100th issue of Gravy quarterly comes in two parts, summer and fall.

"The summer issue, which published in August, is largely a greatest hits compilation," Milam said. "We went through more than 10 years' worth of issues and picked about two dozen stories that we were really proud of, that we think readers will still enjoy now."

These include pieces from well-known Southern writers such as Silas House and Deesha Philyaw and UM colleagues W. Ralph Eubanks, the Black Power at Ole Miss Faculty Fellow at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil, professor of English and creative writing.

The summer issue also included a recipe package from longtime SFA member and board member Sheri Castle. She is an award-winning cookbook writer and recipe developer in North Carolina who hosted "The Key Ingredient" on PBS.

Castle developed recipes for the ultimate summer veggie plate – think tomato pie and field pea salad – inspired by dishes that had been cooked at past SFA events.

"The fall issue, which will be published in October, is a collection of deeply reported stories that were really proud of, and all of them speak to the ever-changing American South and how we meet and embrace those challenges," Milam said.

Together, these two issues mark the milestone of Gravy at 100 and open the door for what's to come: an ongoing commitment to telling true stories of the American South through its foodways.

As many food publications and literary magazines face difficult conditions, Milam said she is proud that Gravy continues to nurture thoughtful, engaging writing aimed at a general audience.

"We're always looking to reach more readers, and we're always keeping an eye out for writers, both emerging and established, with great stories to tell," she said.

All SFA members receive a subscription to Gravy. Interested readers can also purchase a copy of Gravy online through Hub City Press, an independent publisher based in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Many Gravy stories are available to read on SFA's website.

Melissa Booth Hall, the alliance's co-director, credits Milam's stewardship of Gravy, as well as the support of SFA members and donors who continue to invest in the periodical.

"Here we are, almost 30 years and 100 issues later," Hall said. "SFA publishes Gravy because stories matter; because the people and places that feed the South matter.

"Sharing stories of this place that come from this place matters."

Top: Gravy, the quarterly journal of the Southern Foodways Alliance, is celebrating the publication of its 100th issue through October. The publication, which launched in 1999, provides news about the alliance and its members, plus original articles, poetry, recipes, interviews, illustrations and photography relating to the South and its culture. Submitted photo