Students Get a Taste of Southern Culture

Eastern or western style, urban or rural, he can't get enough.

McKinney certainly isn't alone in his enthusiasm for this Southern tradition, but he might be the king of barbecue at UNC.

About a year ago, McKinney, a senior political science major, founded the Carolina BarBQ Society, an organization that meets about once a month to eat barbecue at various locations around the state.

"Some friends and I were just going out to eat barbecue a lot," said McKinney about what prompted him to found the society. "Ever since we could drive at UNC, we've been going to these restaurants."

McKinney, who hails from South Carolina, said most of his friends were from out of state or from major cities in North Carolina and had not really been exposed to rural culture.

"There are so many little cultures in North Carolina," McKinney said. "A lot of people have never gotten off the highway."

The idea for the society was an immediate hit, with 40 people at the first meeting. That number quickly grew to 140 members, including students, faculty members and Chapel Hill residents.

In addition to eating barbecue, McKinney hopes members can gain some education and insight into the culture of the South.

"Will has done a terrific job; he's been able to put it in a historical context," said Eric Mlyn, the director of the Robertson Scholars Program at UNC and Duke University and the society's faculty adviser.

"The society's purpose is a combination of education and eating," Mlyn said. "Will always has a speaker, whether it's the owner of the restaurant or someone speaking about Southern culture."

John Shelton Reed, professor emeritus of sociology, spoke to members of the society last year at Bullock's, a restaurant in Durham.

"Traditional barbecue is an important and endangered aspect of North Carolina's cultural heritage. It's also good to eat," Reed said.

"Understanding barbecue as a food, a process and an event does help one understand North Carolina and the South."

Word of the society's promotion of Southern culture has spread all over the South since its humble beginning at UNC.

John Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance in Oxford, Miss., has taken a profound interest in the club and hopes to attend an event in the future.

His group, part of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, works to "celebrate, teach, preserve and promote the diverse food cultures of the American South," Edge said.

Edge said he finds the society both silly and inspiring. "I think it's intriguing that college students have such a passion for barbecue," he said.

The society goes hand in hand with the work he has been doing for years, Edge said.

"These students are doing what I get paid to do," Edge said. "The society speaks to a new generation of Southerners who understand Southern food culture.

McKinney said his favorite part of the society is the eating. "A close second, though, is seeing what is different about restaurants around the state," he said.

The society's upcoming event, the Down East Extravaganza, will allow members to do just that.

On Saturday, members will stop at about five restaurants along U.S. 70, referred to as "the road of barbecue" by McKinney.

"We won't eat too heavy at these places, but it will just be interesting to go and see a lot of the traditions used there," he said.

In a few years, the society might become a tradition itself.

If nothing else, Mlyn said, the society promotes Southern culture in perhaps the most entertaining way.

"I think the society is fun, and I think it's important to learn about North Carolina," he said. "I'm not sure if eating barbecue is the best way, but it's a fun way."

The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.