Southern Foodways Alliance
For over 25 years, the SFA has shaped the national consciousness and conversation around Southern food. The James Beard Award-winning academic institution has produced books, podcasts, films, research, and symposiums to further establish the South for its multiethnic diversity and culinary excellence.
As part of its documentary initiative, 1504 partnered with the SFA to produce seven projects exploring regional flavors, generational traditions, and complex histories surrounding Southern food.
From high-end restaurants in New Orleans to family kitchens in Kentucky, we aimed to establish each place as a character in the stories, underlining the sense of community that is always present around the table.
select works
“Muddy Pond”
A mennonite family tries to sustain its second-generation of making sorghum syrup in Tennessee. Winner of Best Documentary Short at the Nashville Film Festival.
“A Girl Scout with Gumption”
JoAnn Clevenger’s famed Upperline restaurant in New Orleans was one of the last in its generation where hospitality was a form of civic duty. Published by Eater.
“Full Circle: The Ballad of Rodney & Roscoe”
Descendants of two barbecue dynasties, Dreamland and Scott’s, reflect on the weight of family legacy and the rise of Black entrepreneurship through food. Published by Food & Wine.
gallery
Artist and chef Roscoe Hall, featured in "Full Circle."
1504 partnered with JoAnn Clevenger to support the future of her art collection, which she hopes to auction to benefit local journalism in New Orleans.
As new generations of Mexican families grow up in the South, “El Nuevo South” visits a family in Kentucky to see how homecooking is a place where traditional Southern and Mexican foods are converging; Premiered at the Food Media South conference.
“Blood is Blood” profiles Patillo's, one of the oldest barbecue restaurants in Texas, that preserves ancestral recipes and what locals call greaseballs.
“Thursday in Hell’s Half Acre” premiered at Charleston Wine + Food for a South Carolina BBQ Tent Revival celebrating the traditions of whole hog cooking.
Documenting the struggle to desegregate southern restaurants, 1504 partnered with Kate Medley to produce an episode in Maryland for the “Counter Histories” series.
In conversation
1504 tells transformative stories. Their work changes opinions and perspectives. Their work changes viewers. I’m proud of what we accomplish together.
— John T. Edge, Southern Foodways Alliance