Backstory: Southern Discomfort Food ; Some Black Leaders Want to Wean Kids off Southern Foods for Health Reasons. but Critics Say It's Robbing a Region of Its Culture

Patrik Jonsson writer of The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor

On stage, the famous jazz pianist Thelonious Monk wore a collard- leaf pin in his lapel - an act of solidarity, in the guise of a key Southern food, with his sharecropper roots.

Standing in front of Selma High School the other day, principal Roosevelt Wilson broke with Mr. Monk and proclaimed war on the humble but proud collard, the leafy green usually cooked with lard, and all the other unhealthy Southern foods it evokes.

"If I could, I'd tell them never to eat collards again," says the appropriately lean Mr. Wilson, as he surveys gossiping gaggles of students after a recent day of school.

Wilson is part of a growing crusade to cinch a few notches on …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Backstory: Southern Discomfort Food ; Some Black Leaders Want to Wean Kids off Southern Foods for Health Reasons. but Critics Say It's Robbing a Region of Its Culture. Contributors: Patrik Jonsson writer of The Christian Science Monitor - Author. Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor. Publication date: February 6, 2006. Page number: 20. © 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.