ELIZABETH ENGELHARDT - Mess of Greens (with edible Austin magazine)

Panelists at this event will include special guests Carol Ann Sayle from Boggy Creek Farm, Stephanie McClenny of confituras, and Lara Nixon of Bad Dog Bar Craft. Enjoy special tastings inspired by the book along with Saint Arnold Brewing Company beverages. 

This event is curated by the good folks at

Combining the study of food culture with gender studies and using per­spectives from historical, literary, environmental, and American studies, Elizabeth S. D. Engelhardt examines what southern women’s choices about food tell us about race, class, gender, and social power.

Shaken by the legacies of Reconstruction and the turmoil of the Jim Crow era, different races and classes came together in the kitchen, often as servants and mistresses but also as people with shared tastes and traditions. Generally focused on elite whites or poor blacks, southern foodways are often portrayed as stable and unchanging—even as an untroubled source of nostalgia. A Mess of Greens offers a different perspective, taking into account industrialization, environmental degradation, and women’s increased role in the work force, all of which caused massive economic and social changes. Engelhardt reveals a broad middle of southerners that included poor whites, farm families, and middle- and working-class African Americans, for whom the stakes of what counted as southern food were very high.

Elizabeth S. D. Engelhardt is an associate professor in the Department of American Studies and Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Texas, Austin. She is author or editor of three previous books, most recently Republic of Barbecue: Stories Beyond the Brisket.

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Thank you for supporting Elizabeth Englehardt, edible Austin magazine, and your local independent bookstore!