![]() Sam Burnham, Curator @C_SamBurnham Hurricane Michael made landfall on Wednesday October 10. As I’m writing this, on the 17th, we have reached they say FEMA resources are expected to start reaching the affected areas. That’s a week. If this was New Orleans, there would be outrage in abundance. But this is the rural South. So this national spotlight has largely moved on. Now the inhabitants of this racially diverse area get to start picking up the pieces. Major media outlets poured in to capture the chaos, mispronounce the names of towns, rake in some ratings, and then move on to the next story. President Trump and Vice President Pence toured damaged areas in South Georgia yesterday. US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue was in Cordele this weekend to assess losses to crops and livestock. GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp visited South Georgia this weekend while Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams marched in Atlanta’s Pride Parade. Thats the rundown of the dog and pony show. As far as the work of recovery, that has been well underway. While politicians observed damage (or celebrated in parades), news networks made a lot of money, and FEMA did...whatever they’ve been doing for a week, Georgia put boots on the ground. The State activated GSAR - Georgia Search and Rescue - task forces that respond to disaster and other special incidents. The Georgia Forestry Commission dispatched rangers to do tree removal, clearing roads, and making the logistics of moving resources possible. The National Guard and State Patrol have been involved. Several charitable organizations have stepped in to raise funds, provide shelter, meals, medications, supplies. Duracell sent out its response units to provide batteries to storm victims needing power for flashlights, radios, and other equipment needed to get through a prolonged power outage. Utility companies, including local electric membership corporations, have been working nonstop to restore power to the area. But dont worry. FEMA is on the way. This would be a great time to consider the pros and cons of decentralization of resource allocation. Georgia has been busting it for a week with the resources it has. The efforts that have already been put into motion have me wondering if FEMA is on the way or if they’re coming to get in the way. Maybe it would be better if they just sent some stuff and stayed wherever they are. Between the quick actions of Georgians and the resilience of rural Southerners, this might be over by the time the federal behemoth gets moving good. Thats the rundown of the dog and pony show. As far as the work of recovery, that has been well underway. While politicians observed damage (or celebrated in parades), news networks made a lot of money, and FEMA did...whatever they’ve been doing for a week, Georgia put boots on the ground. The State activated GSAR - Georgia Search and Rescue - a statewide network of task forces made up of local emergency personnel who come together to respond to disasters and other incidents that require a specialized response. The Georgia Forestry Commission dispatched rangers to do tree removal, clearing roads, and making the logistics of moving resources possible. The National Guard and State Patrol have been involved. Several charitable organizations have stepped in to raise funds, provide shelter, meals, medications, supplies. Duracell sent out its response units to provide batteries to storm victims needing power for flashlights, radios, and other equipment needed to get through a prolonged power outage. Utility companies, including local electric membership corporations, have been working nonstop to restore power to the area. But dont worry. FEMA is on the way. This would be a great time to consider the pros and cons of decentralization of resource allocation. Georgia has been busting it for a week with the resources it has. The efforts that have already been put into motion have me wondering if FEMA is on the way or if they’re coming to get in the way. Maybe it would be better if they just sent some stuff and stayed wherever they are. Between the quick actions of Georgians and the resilience of rural Southerners, this might be over by the time the federal behemoth gets moving good. In an election year, it is a good idea to consider candidates and policies that favor agriculture. It is also wise to consider ways to decentralize disaster relief to get the response closer to the people. We need to be able to beef up our state and local response and be less dependent on a distant and clumsy national response. Most importantly, we need leaders who understand rural people and places.
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Sam Burnham, Curator @C_SamBurnham ![]() When the sun came up over southwest Georgia on Thursday morning the damage assessments began. Hurricane Michael came from the Gulf of Mexico, devastated the Florida Panhandle and then crashed through the Wiregrass of Georgia and Alabama. The storm started with Mexico Beach, Florida. That’s a good place to start with that story. Panama City took heavy damage. The Metropolis of the “Redneck Riviera” will have the investment and resources to recover. The vast crowds will return in the spring bringing tons of cash with them. The much smaller, much more quaint Mexico beach was leveled and being a sleepier small town, one wonders where the recovery will come from. That’s the cruel metaphor of Hurricane Michael. The areas that took the most devastation are some of the poorest in in the affected states. The local economies are driven by agriculture. Even people who are not employed in agriculture are dependent on the money that farmers bring to the area. The storm damaged fields of cotton and peanuts, orchards of pecans, chicken houses, barns, cotton gins. While these assets don’t inspire the same economic confidence of condominium towers, factories, and office buildings, they are essential to the economy of these three states. That leaves Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, particularly the Panhandle, without the resources they need to survive. They’d need even more to overcome this disaster and recover. For cotton, peanut, and pecan producers this couldn’t come at a worse time. With crops ready for harvest they have now been decimated. It had been a good season for cotton so far. But now, most of that is now gone. Cotton farmer and State Representative Clay Pirkle was quoted saying, "For me the cotton crop is as bad as it gets. I was picking three bale cotton yesterday, today it is gone. Can't tell the difference between what I've picked and what I haven't." "For me the cotton crop is as bad as it gets. I was picking three bale cotton yesterday, today it is gone. Can't tell the difference between what I've picked and what I haven't." - Cotton farmer and State Representative Clay Pirkle ![]() So now this area is at the mercy of FEMA and the donations and generosity of others. It’s a harsh, uncertain future for a region that already is short on resources. With wealth being centralized in Atlanta and an economic system tilted toward metropolitan and industrial centers, South Georgia is in trouble. The people are willing to do the work, their willing to make the sacrifices but it will be incumbent on metro Southerners to make the options to support Georgia and Southern producers. It’s time to make buying from neighbors a priority, now more than ever. What harvest these farmers did produce needs to be bought. And next season they need a favorable market. Everything weve stood for - small businesses and farms, local products, small town revitalization, all of it, can lead to a better future for this region. FEMA can offer a safety net. We can offer a better foundation. Better prices every year would make disasters easier to overcome. That’s a real future. For more on buying Georgia products, check out Georgia Grown. For more on products made in The South, check out Made South. Sam Burnham, Curator @C_SamBurnham ![]() Three episodes in and I’m pretty hooked. John T. Edge and Wright Thompson have teamed up to travel The South telling a visual story of food. Of course in The South food is never just food. And any time you tell a story of food you’re really telling a story of community, family, history, even art or a master craft. Food is just the common ground between all those topics. We don't do much of anything in the South without food being involved. They started with stories from Birmingham highlighting the well-established Greek community in central Alabama. While the food elements involved two restaurants, Bessemer’s The Bright Star and Johnny’s in Homewood, the stories sprawled outside the walls of those establishments. Hearing the history of Greek immigrants in Alabama helped connect some dots for me. While attending college in Alabama I met several people with Greek heritage, people who attended Greek Orthodox churches, and I was introduced to a little place, also in Homewood, called Moneer’s. They had great Mediterranean food and a tasty mint tea. Greek might not be your first thought as far as influences on Southern culture but this episode shows the scope of the impact that Greek immigrants have had. It brings that influence into the open and helps us understand it. It expands our understanding of our own culture. The episode on Athens is excellent because they didn’t choose the typical, predictable places. Heading out of town to the "wide spot in the road" community of Norwood they turned off the highway, hit some small local places and risked getting some local on them. They chose two locally owned spots - Scott’s BBQ, a black owned business, and and Polleria Pablo, a Peruvian chicken restaurant in the back of gas station. Peruvian gas station chicken. Y'all know how we love the gas station food. People who live in this community have little beyond these two options for dining out. The fresh quality ingredients and local connections make these two eateries about as Southern as it gets. The production of the episode (and after party) helped the two families who own these establishments meet and get to know each other. The production of the show helped bring this community closer together. That's a lot of winning coming out of one TV episode. The show makes good use of music, especially groups from the area being highlighted. It enhances the show and adds to the artistic value of it. The camera angles and lighting effects alone could keep you entertained. They also bring in locals to help viewers understand the area. Seeing Andre Gallant and Nihilist Cheerleader both with a role in the Athens show let me know this isn't just your typical tourist show. This is really about the local culture. I saw some criticism of the show online. There were comments that the SEC Network was becoming “another Turner South.” First of all, I don’t think that would necessarily be a terrible thing. But if this was what Turner South had at least mostly been, it might still be on the air. The only criticism I even pondered was that it seemed to me at first that a longer episode would tell a more complete story. But when I thought more about it, I’m not sure that’s true. Part of the beauty is that the show isn’t huge, it’s not overthought, it's genuine. Simply put, it’s family, it's community, it’s even faith. In a word, it’s Southern. Stretching it to an hour would add content but is more always (or ever) better? John T. Edge is known as a food writer. TrueSouth is described as a food show. But as I mentioned before, Southern food is never just about food. So this food show isn’t just about food. It’s about The South. I highly reccomend the show show and I do hope it will continue. There are many stories to tell, and these folks are telling them well. Episodes of TrueSouth are available online: Birmingham - Athens - Nashville |
Sam B.Historian, self-proclaimed gentleman, agrarian-at-heart, & curator extraordinaire Social MediaCategories
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