Driving the Deep South’s back roads in late fall or winter offers glimpses of a shade of green bluer and darker than most of the vegetation you’ll see, arranged in garden rows with hints of purple and yellow. The untrained viewer—just trying to keep eyes on the road, for goodness’ sake—may not realize that these verdant patches are in fact a unique marker of American history: the beloved, if at times belittled, collard green. Collards are unknown in most of the world but they are raised in thousands of Southern gardens and eaten in the homes of thousands more Southerners beyond, making them the most popular kind of cooked green in the region. Yes, in some parts, the people prefer turnip greens or mustard greens, but collard consumption is higher overall. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that national per capita consumption of collards is 1.3 pounds per year, versus 0.4 pounds for turnip greens and 0.3 pounds for mustard … Continue reading The Humble but Hardy Leaf That Defines Our National Character