Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Conservatives -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: prometheus1976 who wrote (28747)	4/19/2014 9:49:37 PM
From: sense	Respond to of 124666

"Do you know why Southerners of all races eat turnip greens??" How you answer it depends on the time frame you're considering in how you answer... A first and most correct first answer is that people eat greens (and root crops) mostly because animals do... and, when you are a yeoman farmer, a peasant, or are other otherwise dependent on some form of subsistence agriculture, you eat what you have. The time frame in which that answer is most relevant for (all) Americans is from around 1818 to around 1850... and, it's an important bit to understand in the history of American influence in the development of agriculture as a science, as well as in the development of an scientific understanding of the aesthetics of taste (both interests of mine, and the reason I have this answer to provide): common-place.org A second and more culturally correct version of the same answer in distinctly southern context, is that during the Civil War the damned Yankees practiced slash and burn tactics that included killing all the crops and stealing all the food that people could eat, including stealing all the animals to eat them themselves, but leaving the animal fodder. So, people in the south ate what the animals ate... because that's what was left. That's also the origin of stories like this one: "The association of luck with black eyed peas came from the civil war. The Union army had a nasty habit of raiding southern towns for provisions. On a particular New Years Eve, there had been such a raid on a community in Lousisana and the Union army had taken, or butchered all of the livestoock and food in the town. However, they left what they had thought was 'cow food', (black eye peas) and the leftovers from butchering the hogs, the hocks jowls and feet. What the Union army didn't know was that the southerners considered this to be a regular meal. So, you are considered to be lucky if you have black eyed peas and ham hocks to eat on New Years Day". If you've got another explanation... I'd love to hear it...