represents material folk culture, because it features distinctive folk instruments
like the dulcimer and banjo. This style of music also provides a good example of
a component of folk culture that has entered popular culture. Once confined to
the American southeast, bluegrass music is now played internationally and has a
large following in Europe and elsewhere.
The popularization of bluegrass music shows that folk culture, like all other
aspects of culture, has the potential to spread to other regions via the process of
cultural diffusion. This happens frequently in the case of unique folk cuisines,
because styles of food can be transplanted rapidly to other locations via restaurants
that specialize in a specific kind of cuisine. Some cultural geographers study the
spatial distribution of beverages and food styles by examiningfoodways, although
this does not always include folk culture. An example is the diffusion of “soul
food,” a cuisine that is unique to African American folk culture, and which origi-
nated in the American South. This style of food is distinctive for the ingredients
used, especially vegetables and greens that are not widely used outside the Ameri-
can South such as pokeweed and collard greens; and the types of meats employed,
such as chitlins and beef or pork tongue. Over the past several decades, soul food
cuisine has diffused across the United States and one may find several soul food
restaurants in any large American city.Likewise, the popularity of “Tex-Mex”
cooking, a folk cuisine originally found only in the American southwest that com-
bines preparation and ingredients from both traditional Mexican cuisine and white
southern traditional recipes, has diffused into the popular cuisine of American cul-
ture. Tex-Mex differs from traditional Mexican cuisine in its heavy use of cheese
in many dishes and grilled preparation. The several varieties offajitas, a dish made
by grilling thin slices of meat with chopped peppers and onions, and then serving
with flour tortillas is a classic example of Tex-Mex cooking that has diffused glob-
ally. Music, cuisine, or any aspect of folk culture has the potential to diffuse and
subsequently to enter popular culture.
Those who live in folk cultures are usually farmers, ranchers, or others who
make a living from the land they occupy. This close connection with the local
environment sometimes is illustrated in the emergence of aspects of folk culture
like folk medicine, or in other variations where the surrounding physical geogra-
phy plays an important role in the culture. Folk medicine utilizes treatments and
methods supplied by the local environment, usually employing plants and animals
that folk healers identify as beneficial. Even in many regions where modern, tech-
nological medical care is available, folk methods remain popular and widely used.
In the Appalachian highlands of the eastern United States many traditional cures
are still employed by rural residents. These include tea or broth made from the sas-
safras root for a cold or sore throat, wild ginger root for a variety of ailments,
sumac as a treatment for allergies, and many others. Techniques common to folk126 Folk Culture