Southern food guru and author John T. Edge will be the keynote speaker at the Governor's Awards in the Humanities luncheon in Atlanta next month, pushing his agenda of paying homage to Georgia's often overlooked food culture.

"We've reveled in barbecue and barbecue events for a long time, but we've barely stopped to applaud the food culture. What I care about is paying down a debt owed by generations of Georgians to barbecue.

Kyle Hood/Special (ENLARGE)

A native of Macon, John T. Edge is director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi.

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"I am going to talk about why and how Southern food matters. And in Georgia, using barbecue is the way to do it."

A native of Macon, Edge is director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi and author of "Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lovers' Companion to the South" (Algonquin Books, $14.95). The title of his free talk will be "Barbecue: Paying Down a Debt of Pleasure." He also writes for the occasional "Saving Southern Food" series that appears in the Food & Drink section.

"We need to see food as the cultural resource it is," he says. "We've done that with music. We've embraced our music. There is a Georgia Music Hall of Fame, all sorts of awards, shows. But we haven't done that with food."

This year's annual humanities lecture will also serve as the kickoff for the Georgia tour of "Key Ingredients: America by Food."

It's a traveling Smithsonian exhibit, brought to the state by the Georgia Humanities Council. It will travel through rural Georgia, opening in Vienna on June 28.

"It's based on the theme of cooking traditions," says Laura McCarty, vice president of the council. "It features the places and events people gather for food -- festivals, holidays." In 2008, it will visit 150 rural U.S. cities. There are nine kiosks in the exhibit, which is mostly photographs and text, she said. As the exhibit travels to the various communities, it will pull in information from that area.

"If Ellijay does a great traditional Thanksgiving, then they'll add elements of that to the display," she said.

Edge will speak at 10 a.m. May 8. The lecture is free and open to the public. Tickets for the luncheon that follows are $50. The menu features ... barbecue, of course.

The Smithsonian exhibit will also go to LaFayette, Ellijay, Hapeville, Thomson, Dahlonega, Kingsland, Tifton, Vidalia, Waynesboro, Indian Springs/Flovilla and Buchanan. Officials from those cities will be at the lecture and luncheon.

Edge is hoping his words will stir the assembled politicians. "Maybe we can get a Georgia Food Hall of Fame, get some attention.

"Barbecue ... has cut across the chasm of race. We don't pay enough attention to that culture."