South

The Grits Belt is an unmarked but undeniable demarcation of American culinary cultures

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2 years ago

June 5, 2024

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The Grits Belt is an unmarked but undeniable demarcation of American culinary cultures

The United States continues to be a house divided. The so-called Grits Belt lays it bare.

Political borders are well-defined, the line on the map matching the “welcome to” sign on the road.

On the other hand, cultural borders are undefined and unmarked — yet their existence is undeniable. The Grits Belt, largely a phenomenon in the eastern half of the country, is a perfect example.

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It does not appear on a map, AAA guide or smartphone app. Yet it’s as obvious as the delicious joy that comes with eating the creamy ground corn drenched in butter and love.

“The Grits Belt is a real geographic phenomenon,” Matthew Zook, a professor of geography at the University of Kentucky, told Fox News Digital.

Shrimp and Grits, made with Andouille Sausage Tomato Gravy and Crispy Garlic, at Benne On Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina. (Tim Robison for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“But like all cultures, it has porous and diffuse borders.”

The Grits Belt separates an America in which grits are at best a novelty from an America in which grits are gloriously abundant.

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Grits are rare in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.

But during a drive south, New Yorkers will, without notice, enter the Grits Belt.

They will know only when they pull over at the country café and find grits on the menu with their sunny sides, shrimp or fried chicken.

University of Kentucky professor Matthew Zook, and other scholars, used social media geotags to map the Grits Belt — which they published on the website floatingsheep.org. (Courtesy Matthew Zook/Floatingsheep.org)

Road-trippers from South Carolina, conversely, will at some undetermined point leave the Grits Belt.

They will know only when they look at a menu and find that meals come with some sort of potatoes: home fries with their eggs, French fries with fried fish, mashed potatoes with chicken dinner.

“A relatively small number of coastal localities in the Low Country … have the strongest connection to grits.”

Zook and other scholars mapped the Grits Belt in 2014 on the website floatingsheep.org, by surveying geotagged posts on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“The South in general demonstrates a general preference for grits over the rest of the country,” they wrote.

Beef with grits served on the farm, Conowingo, Maryland. (Edwin Remsberg/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

But, they noted, it “is actually a relatively small number of coastal localities in the Low Country that have the strongest connection to grits through social media.”

The Southeast is the heart of the Grits Belt, said Zook.

But “it shifts as people travel and preferences change.”

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Erin Byers Murray of Nashville, Tennessee is the author of “Grits: A Cultural and Culinary Journey Through the South” and editor-in-chief of The Local Palate, a South Carolina magazine devoted to Southern food culture.

“I don’t know where the line is, but I think it’s pretty firmly in Virginia,” she said, while agreeing that the border of the Grits Belt moves with time, tastes and trends.

Frank Stitt, owner and executive chef of Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Alabama. He’s one of the high-profile chefs currently devoted to Southern cuisine and to elevating humble grits. (Maranie Staab/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

She is far more certain about the history of grits — and its gritty name.

Corn is native to the Western Hemisphere and its ground, softened form was a staple of the Native American diet.

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European settlers arriving in coastal Virginia in the 1630s, she notes, adopted it from indigenous culinary culture. The texture of the corn porridge was similar to the grist mashed from grains known to Europeans.

The name quickly evolved into grits.

The Breakfast Klub’s catfish and grits with sunny side up eggs and biskit. Photographed on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, in Houston. (Nick de la Torre/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

“This moment launched the official archive of grits: written accounts, and trackable moments of a now named dish that could be etched into historical records,” Murray writes in her book, “Grits.”

“Through that naming process, grits, the term and the dish, were then permanently tied to what was about to become the southeastern United States.”

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She listed several high-profile chefs devoted to Southern cuisine and to elevating humble grits: Sean Brock in Nashville, Frank Stitt in Birmingham, Alabama, and Dominic Lee in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“These are the folks who are doing grits fancy right now,” said Murray.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.

Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

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Augusta, GA

Georgia Lt. Gov candidate Rep. David Clark visits Augusta

Published

16 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Georgia Lt. Gov candidate Rep. David Clark visits Augusta

Georgia Lt. Gov candidate state Rep. David Clark made a stop in Augusta Saturday. He says that some of his priorities if he wins include expanding school choice, eliminating the state income and property taxes, and reaching out to younger voters.

Clark is also an Army veteran, who served overseas. He hopes to represent all Georgians.

“Before politics and parties we’re Americans, we’re Georgians. That’s the biggest thing. People want someone who stands up and listens to people,” said Clark.

“I’m not saying we’re always going to agree, but in the end—we’re the American family, we’re the Georgian family.”

The Georgia primary will take place on May 19th, and the general election will be on November 3rd.

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Washington, D.C

US to push for quicker action in reducing reliance on China for rare earths

Published

22 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

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US to push for quicker action in reducing reliance on China for rare earths

Item 1 of 2 Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 31, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

[1/2]Workers transport soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 31, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will urge Group of Seven nations and others to step up their efforts to reduce reliance on critical minerals from China when he hosts a dozen top finance officials on Monday, a senior U.S. official said.

The meeting, which kicks off with a dinner on Sunday evening, will include finance ministers or cabinet ministers from the G7 advanced economies, the European Union, Australia, India, South Korea and Mexico, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Together, the grouping accounts for 60% of global demand for critical minerals.

“Urgency is the theme of the day. It’s a very big undertaking. There’s a lot of different angles, a lot of different countries involved and we really just need to move faster,” the official said.

Bessent on Friday told Reuters that he had been pressing for a separate meeting on the issue since a G7 leaders summit in Canada in June, where he delivered a rare earths presentation to gathered heads of state from the U.S., Britain, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and the European Union.

Leaders agreed to an action plan at the summit to secure their supply chains and boost their economies, but Bessent has grown frustrated about the lack of urgency demonstrated by attendees, the official said.

Aside from Japan, which took action after China abruptly cut off its critical minerals supplies in 2010, G7 members remain heavily dependent on critical minerals from China, which has threatened to impose strict export controls.

China dominates the critical minerals supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, according to the International Energy Agency. These minerals are used in defense technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy components, batteries and refining processes.

The U.S. is expected to issue a statement after the meeting, but no specific joint action is likely, the official added.

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“The United States is in the posture of calling everyone together, showing leadership, sharing what we have in mind going forward,” said the official. “We’re ready to move with those who feel a similar level of urgency … and others can join as they come to the realization of how serious this is.”

The official gave no details on what further steps were planned by the Trump administration, which is pushing forward to boost domestic production and reduce reliance on China through agreements with Australia, Ukraine and other producers.

The U.S. signed an agreement with Australia in October aimed at countering China’s dominance in critical minerals that includes an $8.5 billion project pipeline. The deal leverages Australia’s proposed strategic reserve, which will supply metals like rare earths and lithium that are vulnerable to disruption.

The official said there had been progress, but more work was needed. “It’s not solved,” they added.

Canberra has said it has subsequently received interest from Europe, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

Monday’s meeting comes days after reports that China had begun restricting exports to Japanese companies of rare earths and powerful magnets containing them, as well as banning exports of dual-use items to the Japanese military.

The meeting was planned well before that action, U.S. officials said. China was still living up to its commitments to purchase U.S. soybeans and ship critical minerals to U.S. firms.

Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Michael Perry

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Austin, TX

Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

Published

34 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

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Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

AUSTIN — For the first time in modern Texas politics, Democrats will field candidates in every one of the state’s 150 House districts.

It’s a milestone party leaders hope will boost turnout, money and organization up and down the ballot, even as Gov. Greg Abbott enters the cycle with a well-tested ground game of his own.

Democratic leaders say the move is less about flipping deeply red districts and more about expanding the electorate and forcing Republicans to defend territory they have long taken for granted.

Houston Rep. Christina Morales, the new chief of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said a full slate of candidates creates infrastructure that can benefit statewide races, regardless of the odds in individual districts.

Campaigns that once existed only on paper now bring door-knocking, phone banking and voter registration efforts, she said.

Morales also is coordinating with national Democrats, trying to harness energy from Texas’ high-profile Senate race, marked by a bitter GOP feud.

In that primary, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston.

The Democratic Senate contest, featuring state Rep. James Talarico of Austin and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, has drawn wide voter interest and donor support.

But attention and money only go so far.

Abbott enters the cycle with a major advantage: a mature, statewide voter-mobilization network built over decades of Republican control.

“Abbott has made it his own,” said longtime GOP strategist Thomas Graham, citing sustained relationship-building at the precinct level and focus on local concerns. “Democrats are still rebuilding a statewide party. The ground game heavily favors the governor.”

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