in south, it’s sweet, deep-fried (link)
08.23.09 - atlanta journal-constitution - by tammy joyner

i've visited hotlanta a few times in my life. my knowledge is limited to buckhead, little five points, sono & a few other neighborhoods, but from what i can tell, it's basically the awesomest example of urban sprawl known to man (outside of los angeles). if you're walking somewhere, you might get a look like you have two heads, but the people seemed friendly enough. the disco bowling was discoey enough. if there's one thing it definitely has, it's its fair share of tasty cuisine. of course there's southern cooking, but there's also the varied world cuisine that you can expect to find in a city with a half-million people.

the atlanta journal constitution's tammy joyner describes atlanta as "the silicon valley of all things glazed, scattered, covered, smothered and deep fried." i'm not sure what "scattered" means as far as cooking goes, but ok. it's something southern no doubt. basically, "quick, high-calorie food" is part of the southern culture & as wilbert jones, president of healthy concepts (some consulting firm in chicago) notes, "snack food manufacturing in the south is a multibillion-dollar business and it continues to grow." even with the economic downturn, "a southerner's sweet tooth is recession-proof." so yeah. southerners love snack foods.

on top of that, atlanta's not only home to the coca-cola headquarters, but it's also home to the headquarters for arby's, chick-fil-a & waffle house. as far as the rest of the south goes, joyner mentions a bunch of other southern snack food manufacturers & restaurant chains outside of georgia to make the case that the south's huge on on-the-go snack foods, but other than krispy kreme, i haven't heard of any of them. blenheim ginger ale in s.c.? lance snacks in n.c.? sonny's real pit bar in fl? must be a southern thing. it's ok though. anyway, i believe her & it doesn't make much of a difference if it's a southern thing or a georgia thing, because from what i gather, atlanta is the south anyhow.