The Columbia, South Carolina-born journalist's new column for Southern Living will debut in our June/July issue.

Catch Craig Melvin as the co-anchor of Today , and you may hear a fellow host call him “Mr. Southern Living.” It’s an apt moniker for the Columbia , South Carolina-born journalist, who was raised in a household where the magazine came “third or fourth to the Holy Bible,” he says.

His mother, Betty Jo, subscribed for the recipes, and good eats were a staple of family gatherings. “Here [in Connecticut, where I live now], there are foods that are designated for special occasions. If it’s a celebratory meal, maybe you’ll have fried whatever and collard greens or black-eyed peas and white rice. For us growing up, sometimes that was a random Wednesday. You don’t fully appreciate that until you move out of the South.”

Breaking bread together is a value he and his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, are working to instill in their two children, Delano and Sybil. “We do Sunday dinner in this little booth in our basement,” he says. “If it’s a good Sunday, the kids are getting along and we can reflect on the week that was and look forward to the one ahead.”

As for what’s on the table, it’s typically lighter than the fare of his childhood—think turkey burgers instead of fried chicken —but that’s about the only element of his Southernness he’s budged on. “I still talk about as slow as I did growing up in Columbia, much to the dismay of many a network producer,” he says. “I’m in no hurry to finish a sentence.”