Nutritionists have an Uphill Battle

Like all the states visited so far, Georgia has had a rich and colorful history. Spanish and French visited the coastal areas in the 1500s as part of their struggle for supremecy in the New World. However once again, it was the British that established a permanent presence. Georgia was the last of the 13 British colonies established on the Atlantic seaboard. It was founded by James Edward Oglethorpe with 114 original settlers on February 12, 1733, at the present site of the city of Savannah. Oglethorpe was noted as a philanthropist and for his benevolence, including helping children and defending seamen against impressment (being forced into service against one's will). It was his work on the Prison Discipline Committee that brought him in contact with the idea of creating a colony of debtors in the New World. Proposed by a number of writers and in at least one book, the concept gained some acceptance before Oglethorpe became a driving force in the movement. As more people settled in the colony of Georgia, the Spanish in the Florida area became increasingly uneasy at the growing British presence. On July 7, 1742, Oglethorpe, then "General and Commander in Chief of the Forces of South Carolina and Georgia", defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island, removing the Spanish threat to Georgia. In 1743 General Oglethorpe sailed for England never to return to Georgia. During the Revolutionary War, many Georgians still felt loyalty to England. Therefore, the war was fought not only between American and British forces, but also between citizens who became revolutionaries, the Whigs, and those still swearing allegiance to the king, the Tories.

Georgia suffered both a loss of population and considerable physical destruction because of the Revolution. In time, settlers, attracted by the availability of land, moved from the other states-some being lured by an additional tracts of western land opened through a series of treaties with Creek and Cherokee nations. The desire for land, and later gold, created a swift expansion beyond the old frontier, carrying with it increased trade along rivers and migration of people along new roads into the wilderness. The primary basis for this new growth and economic expansion was the production of cotton thorough the slave labor system. In 1860 the national debate over the extension of slavery into new territories reached a crescendo. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, a special state convention voted on January 19, 1861, to secede from the Union. Only a few months later Georgia formally joined the Confederate States of America. Georgia did not suffer direct devastation from the war until 1864 when General William Tecumseh Sherman advanced though Northern Georgia in the previously mentioned March to the Sea. During the war years, Georgia lost nearly 120,000 men and boys in battle as well as much of the state's material wealth. The rebuilding of the state afterwards was a slow and painful process. There were political conflicts between the newly enfranchised black citizens who, for the first time, were allowed to hold seats in the Legislature, and the prewar social structure, which sought to minimize the changes it had to accept in its traditional way of life. Georgia's economy was also crippled because of its heavy dependence on cotton production at a time when world market prices were are historically low levels.

Following World War II, the pace of industrial growth became more apparent. Atlanta, begun in the mid-1880's as a transportation center, gained recognition also as a commercial, financial, and cultural center for the Southeast. New industries developed in Georgia, and others moved from outside into he state. Meanwhile, rural Georgia was revitalized as Georgia's farmers, who had been driven from cotton production by the destructive boll weevil, diversified their planting operations and adopted new agricultural techniques. Georgia is a leader in peanuts and pecan production. We spent the good part of two days riding through a landscape of pecan orchards, tobacco farms and cotton that was nearly ready to harvest. It was fall bicycling at it's best, with warm days, cool nights, and little traffic.

Generally speaking, we were riding in a corridor about 30~40 miles from the Atlantic Coast. The small towns we passed through were spread 15~20 miles apart, and there was very little sign of commerce other than the occassional general store or gas station. There were no restaurants to speak of, and the few places we did come across served variations of deep fat fried chicken, pork rinds, or fish. If you wanted something that wasn't fried...well, there always was some form of pulled pork available, served on a squishy white hamburger bun. The "lunch box" special generally contained two pieces of fried something along with a choice of two sides (stewed vegetables like pole beans, cabbage, okra, or lima beans). We also found that in some places, macaroni and cheese was considered to be a vegetable. At the larger food outlets, the menu also featured fried gizzards and livers. Being a nutritionist, Mary Ellen felt compelled to take photos of the menu offerings, along with snapshots of the different "parts" being sold in the few grocery stores we would come across. We couldn't find fresh produce, fruits or any selection of bread to speak of. The diet sure was different than what we were accustomed to. In fact, Matt commented that some of the butcher selections reminded him of his travels in mainland China, where they pretty much consume all parts of an animal, and you're never really sure of what it is that you're eating. Let's just say that we ate a lot of pasta for dinner and oatmeal or grits for breakast.

Many of the stores in these small towns had gone out of business. When we stopped to ask where one could buy groceries, we often were told that the closest place was the new "Super WalMart" about 15 miles down the road. We could see first hand the impact that these supercenters have had on these communities. The commercial center (small as it was) of these towns had disappeared. People voted with their pocketbooks, and took their business down the road. You can't blame them really, and it's a story being played out across rural America. But it felt as if the life blood had been sucked out of those towns and left us with a touch of longing for what used to be. But progress, such as it is, doesn't stand still...and neither did we.

We found ourselves riding at an efficent but steady pace averaging over 11 MPH, which for us was pretty darn good. Having set our sights on Florida, we rode with a sense of purpose and confidence. 12 states down, one to go, and we were still having the time of our lives. Now if we could just find some whole wheat bread for our peanut butter, all would be right with the world.