The first day of 2023 is upon us and with the New Year comes an old tradition that many of you are familiar with already. It is customary throughout the South and much of Appalachia to eat black-eyed peas and greens (either collard, mustard, or turnip) for good luck and prosperity. There are a few variations to this practice as some say you need to include a pork product in cooking the peas while others say it needs to be served with cornbread.

The practice in the South supposedly dates back to the Civil War when the troops of Union General Willam T. Sherman pillaged and plundered many areas of the South on his march to Atlanta. Sherman’s troops thought they took or destroyed all of the usable food but left behind the black-eyed peas unaware of their nutritional value. The Southern people ate the black-eyes peas to make it through the winter months and began to see the peas as a sign of good luck.

Many participants in this tradition say that you need to eat exactly 365 peas to ensure good luck throughout the year. If you come up short of 365 you will not have good fortune on an equal number of days in the year. If you eat more than 365 it will subtract your days with good luck by an equal amount to the number you go over.

The peas themselves are said by some to represent coins while the greens stand for the “green” in dollar bills. People who add cornbread to the meal do so in the belief that it signifies gold. The pork is added for multiple reasons – pigs have long been seen as a sign of health and wealth in the South. Pigs also are known for their inability to turn their head around fully to look backward so some say it means they are always looking ahead to the future.

Add all the ingredients together and it makes for a tasty meal that I participated in for the first time four years ago. I look forward to eating them again this year but I plan to eat a lot more greens this year – whether I like them or not…