Barkley’s Mill began its production of grits in 2013 and orders for the grits are coming in from across the country already. This article briefly highlights how the mill got up and running and discusses the challenges of farming in the mountains of North Carolina.
Wallace discusses grits as the new iconic food of the South, especially North Carolina, despite its long and important traditional place in the region.
Southerners can't live without them. Northerners wonder “What is that disgusting stuff?†It's grits, a dish ingrained in North Carolina's culinary heritage. Kerr discusses the appeal of this delicacy and two mills still producing it, the Dellinger Grist Mill, built in 1867 in Hawk, and The Old Mill of Guilford, established in 1767 in Oak Ridge. Both mills are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The South is a land of traditions and fine foods, and no true Southerner would begin the day without grits as a part of breakfast. In 1995, an A. C. Neilson research report ranked Charlotte fifth in grits consumption nationwide.