Photo: Southern Foodways Alliance/Flickr

Today The Oxford American is launching Southword, a multimedia partnership with NPR aimed at presenting to the American public “thoughtful and textured reporting about the people, places, and trends shaping the modern American South.” Southword will take the form of video pieces and on-air broadcasts.

Why is PRK picking up this story? Because the inaugural episode is devoted to the dishearteningly complex issue of obesity plaguing the state of Mississippi. It is impacting blacks and whites, it is indeed related to poverty, and it is undeniably a juggernaut of a health issue problem, one talked about in war-like terms.

On “All Things Considered” this afternoon, NPR’s Debbie Elliott will report on appetite and health in Holmes County, MS, the most obese county in the U.S. and, therefore, the world. Filmaker Dave Anderson of The Oxford American has produced a powerful video, “Living Large in Mississippi.”

You can get an additional ‘taste’ of the project in this Picture Show post from NPR, “What Makes Bad Food So Good?” In it, both Debbie and Dave mention a food tradition we Northerners are not likely to have heard before: a Kool-Aid Pickle. What’s more, these two journalists are honest about how they, too, could have healthier eating habits and do better at keeping off the pounds.

Please tune in, listen, watch and comment. These issues of food traditions, food deserts, economic hardship, health problems and obesity will be ours to grapple with for some time.