Southern or Soul?

I am doing a bit of homework for an article on “soul food” gardening, and I am finding the history very interesting.  What do you think of when you read the words “soul food”?

Collard greens? Fried chicken? Okra?

I was raised by an African American woman named Obie Mae Wiley. She  truly was my black mama. My real mother worked long a hours as a nursing professor, and Obie Mae was my keeper. I grew up eating sweet potato pie, fried chicken and turnip greens. But how does one distinguish between  Southern food and Soul food?  Bob Jeffries, author of  the  Soul Food Cookbook, says that ” while soul food is Southern food, not all Southern food is soul food.”

I enjoy creating dishes using vegetables from the soul food garden, but without using the offal ( pronounce awful) addition of pig fat. I am researching  now the alternative seasoning methods which will keep the soul, but not the offal.

See you. ML