Black eyed peas

Did you eat your black eyed peas for good luck in the new year? Why do southerners eat peas on Jan 1st?

Among the black-eyed pea hypotheses are that on Sherman’s crop-burning march through Georgia, black-eyed pea crops were left alone since Yankees thought they were weeds. Black-eyed peas and salt pork were all some Southerners had to keep themselves alive, so the tradition of associating these beans with good luck started there.