new years n food

“Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give (live)

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

William Arthur Ward

What do you eat for new years and why?

We are having us a hillbilly version of haluski with bits of pork and apple in it , black eye peas and corn bread. We eat it because manthing says it is what we are supposed to eat. Where I am from, we typically had roast beef on New Year's because it was a special occasion and the only time we could afford it. For many though what is eaten is steeped in tradition. Some of the ones that I have heard are as follows.
Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's in different countries because their green leaves look like folded money, and are thus symbolic of economic fortune.

There are several stories revolving around the civil war and eating traditions in the South. There are some who believe in eating one pea for every day in the new year. This all traces back to the legend that during the Civil War, the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ran out of food while under attack. The residents fortunately discovered black-eyed peas and the legume was thereafter considered lucky.

Many say the origin of eating Black-eyed peas on New Years day started during the Civil War. The Northern soldiers raided the South’s food supplies one New Year’s Eve night and took all the food except for the dried black-eyed peas and the salted pork. On New Years day, all that the southern soldiers had to eat were the peas and pork to keep them alive.

The custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving. There is an old saying: “Eat poor the first of the year, eat rich the rest.” In the South it is said to go back to slavery and that the worst cuts of hogs were given to the slaves on new years to eat.