John T. Edge

Who is John T. Edge?

John T. Edge is a writer, commentator, and director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He writes for the Oxford American and New York Times. He has also written for Garden & Gun and Afar. As of 2013 he was writing a book on food culture in the United States from the 1960s up to the present.

Edge holds a masters degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from Goucher College. Edge has authored numerous books detailing how America eats, including, Fried Chicken: An American Story, Apple Pie: An American Story, 'Southern Belly, and The Truck Food Cookbook.

Edge has been a regular contributor for the weekend edition of NPR's All Things Considered and has appeared on various television shows including CBS Sunday Morning and Iron Chef. In 2012 he won the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation. His work has also been featured in 10 editions of the Best Food Writing Anthology.

Every October, the Southern Foodways Alliance sponsors a symposium in Oxford, Mississippi on southern food.