Editing Grits (section)

== Origin ==
The dish originated with the Native American [[Muscogee]] tribe using maize.<ref name= deepsouth>{{cite web| url = http://deepsouthmag.com/2014/10/01/shrimp-and-grits-a-history/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307231435/http://deepsouthmag.com/2014/10/01/shrimp-and-grits-a-history/ | archive-date = March 7, 2016| title = Shrimp and Grits: A History |work= Deep South Magazine| date= October 1, 2014 |publisher= Deep South Media, LLC |access-date=2018-09-20}}</ref> American colonists learned to make the dish from the Native Americans, and it quickly became an American staple.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wulff|first=Alexia|title=A Brief History Of Grits| url= https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/a-brief-history-of-grits/|access-date=2021-07-31|website=Culture Trip|date=November 7, 2016}}</ref>

At that time, maize or hominy for grits was ground on a stone [[mill (grinding)|mill]]. The ground material was passed through screens, the finer sifted material used as grit meal, and the coarser as grits.<ref>{{Cite news| work= Newsday| place= Melville, New York | title= Burning Questions: Kernels of Truth on Ground Corn |last= Marcus| first= Erica| date=3 May 2006|publisher=Knight Ridder Tribune Business News|page=1|via=ProQuest}}</ref>

Three-quarters of the grits sold in the U.S. are bought in the South, in an area stretching from Lower Texas to [[Washington, D.C.]], that is sometimes called the "grits belt".<ref>{{Cite book| first = Charles L.| last =Cutler|title =Tracks that Speak: The Legacy of Native American Words in North American Culture| publisher = Houghton Mifflin|year =2002|location = Boston| page = 28| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=CfekuKBLfpIC&q=grits+belt+map&pg=PA28|isbn =0-618-06510-5}}</ref>  The state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] declared grits to be its official prepared food in 2002.<ref>{{cite web| website= sos.georgia.gov| url= http://sos.georgia.gov/state_symbols/state_prepared_food.html |publisher= Georgia Secretary of State| title= State Prepared Food| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080829193358/http://sos.georgia.gov/state_symbols/state_prepared_food.html |archivedate= August 29, 2008 | access-date= December 14, 2007}}</ref>  A similar bill was introduced in South Carolina to name it the official state food,<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess113_1999-2000/bills/4806.htm |title= South Carolina General Assembly 113th Session, 1999–2000, Bill Number: 4806 |website=scstatehouse.gov |publisher=South Carolina Legislature| access-date= February 12, 2017}}</ref> but it did not advance.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Bill And the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, By Adding Section 1-1-703 So As To Recognize Grits As the Official Food of the State. Session 113 - (1999-2000). 4806 General Bill, By Altman |url= https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=4806&session=113&summary=B |website=scstatehouse.gov |publisher=South Carolina Legislature |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref> Nevertheless, South Carolina still has an entire chapter of legislation dealing exclusively with corn meal and grits.<ref name=sclaaw/> State law in [[South Carolina]] requires grits and rice meal to be [[Food fortification|enriched]], similar to the requirement for flour.<ref name=sclaaw>{{cite web |title=Code of Laws. Title 39. Trade and Commerce. Chapter 29. "Corn Meal and Grits" |url= https://www.scstatehouse.gov/query.php?search=DOC&searchtext=grits&category=CODEOFLAWS&conid=25854106&result_pos=0&keyval=18965&numrows=10  |website=scstatehouse.gov |publisher=South Carolina Legislature |access-date=July 8, 2022}}</ref>

Grits may be either yellow or white, depending on the color of the maize used.  The most common version in supermarkets is "quick" grits, which are made from non-hominy maize and have the germ and hull removed.  Whole kernel grits are sometimes called "speckled".<ref>{{cite news | last1=Lee | first1=Matt | last2=Lee | first2=Ted | date=April 26, 2000 | title=A Taste of Charleston; Corn's Highest Calling: Grits | work=[[The New York Times]] | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/26/dining/a-taste-of-charleston-corn-s-higher-calling-grits.html | access-date=March 17, 2018}}</ref>