What does good eating have to do with history? This week I am trying to answer that question for the N.C. Museum of History Associates at their annual meeting.

So what should I tell them?

I may start out with the recent news story about President Obama and Vice President Biden passing up their weekly luncheon at the White House to eat at a popular eatery in Arlington known locally as the "home of Ray's Hell Burger."

Or I might turn to last week's Time Magazine for an article titled "Eat Local" by Joel Stein, who wrote, "Your culinary gain is the planet's loss. Sure, you can drive down a Virginia highway and get Philly cheese steaks, New England clam chowder, buffalo wings and St. Louis-style ribs, but it's almost impossible to find the peanut soup the Old Dominion State was famous for."

Have North Carolinians also given up their traditional food dishes in favor of foods they can get along highways anywhere in the country?

Stein introduces Mark Kurlansky, author of "The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food -- Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal, Regional, and Traditional -- From the Lost WPA Files." Kurlansky describes a time when we were "a country of squirrel and opossum eaters, where few recipes didn't include cornmeal, molasses or salt pork and ash was a totally acceptable spice." He misses things like "hoecakes" and other "disappearing dishes."

In their new book, "500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late," Jane and Michael Stern agree that "We're getting more homogenized." But the Sterns also celebrate a variety of new American regional dishes being created as new immigrants and creative cooks tinker with locally available foods.

Interesting, but perhaps you are wondering what any of this has to do with history, especially North Carolina history.

Here, with the help of two of my favorite recent books, is part of the story.

In their book about North Carolina barbecue ("Holy Smoke"), John and Dale Reed describe more than 250 years of state history in showing how North Carolina's special way of cooking and seasoning barbecue developed. Also, the early immigration patterns in the state help explain the divide between Eastern and Lexington barbecues.

In "A Love Affair with Southern Cooking: Recipes and Recollections," Jean Anderson shows how foods fit into the living patterns of North Carolinians and other Southerners from colonial times until now.

But there is more to it. As Obama and Biden seem to understand, there is a special way that the independent local eateries reflect the spirit and history of a people. Visiting these places is like a trip to a living history museum.

There is history to be learned and experienced at North Carolina's great old-time barbecue restaurants like Wilbur's in Goldsboro for the Eastern variety or Lexington #1 for the other type. Sample the chitlins at a place like Roadside Cafe (formerly Clem's Place) in Norlina near the Virginia line. Visit Sheff's in Pembroke and sample the spots or other old time fish camp food.

Better yet, find and visit the oldest local eatery in your area. You will learn a few things about local history that you did not know before.

D.G. Martin will talk about this column on WCHL-1360 at 8:20 a.m. with Ron Stutts.