Front Porch

The scientists who labeled these belts did not have to point out (but they did anyway) that the South's signature diseases are still tied to enduring regional scourges like poverty, ignorance, and a history of racial discrimination. Courtney Lewis takes us from there to the Smoky Mountain fastness still held by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, where Cherokee citizens sustainably harvested ramps for centuries until the National Park Service suddenly decided that the prized wild onion was an endangered species.