What food is traditionally eaten in the Southern United States for New Year's luck?

What food is traditionally eaten in the Southern United States for New Year’s luck? Black-eyed peas.

Black-eyed peas are commonly eaten on New Year’s Day in the Southern United States, often as part of Hoppin’ John, a dish of peas cooked with rice, onion and pork or another seasoning. The peas are associated with prosperity because they resemble coins and swell as they cook. The meal is a good-luck tradition rather than a guarantee of financial success.

Hoppin’ John is closely connected with African American Southern foodways and has counterparts in West African rice-and-bean dishes. An early printed recipe appeared in Sarah Rutledge’s 1847 cookbook The Carolina Housewife, while an early name reference is associated with Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1861 travel account.

Black-eyed peas are often served with collard greens, whose color symbolizes money, and cornbread, which can symbolize gold. Pork is also frequently included because pigs root forward, suggesting progress. Those foods are related parts of the tradition, but black-eyed peas are the clearest answer to the question.