When I was younger, my relatives from Mississippi came to visit my family up North. Besides the accent, the most noticeable difference between the family norms was the entrée dishes and family recipes. When my relatives cooked dinner, most of the meals consisted of barbeque with unfamiliar seasonings and many fried pieces of chicken. Everything we ate was rolled in flour, tasty, and kept you full for hours at a time. I was also never allowed to have only one helping, the more I ate the happier my relatives felt. One of the norms I noticed through the cooking and eating habits of my southern relatives was what they called “Southern Hospitality.” My relatives were very friendly, outgoing, and warm people and they definitely didn’t want anyone to go hungry. The hearty dishes also made sure of this. The idea behind the greasy-home cooking was to make sure everyone felt at home, comfortable, and well fed. The hospitality in their personalities was portrayed through their desire to serve hearty southern cooking.

Although my relatives’ dishes were delicious, they were not the healthiest. Many of the ingredients they used were high in calories and low in nutrients. These diets that consist of fried food, oils, and fats are some of the leading causes of obesity. The Southern states make up the highest levels of obesity in the country because of the “soul food” that is customary to the southern culture. “Southern Hospitality” is a great feature of the South, but the residents in the South should try and lessen the use of these unhealthy foods. There are ways to demonstrate hospitality while serving healthy foods; for example, serving grilled chicken instead of friend chicken, or lessening the amount consumed at each serving. Because so much of that “Southern Hospitality” is associated with the warm personalities more so than the food they serve, to be able to make the Southern experience about the people you encounter instead of the food eaten would be a great start to limiting obesity in these states.