Generally, we don’t advocate arguing. Lord knows, our country is divided enough as it is.

But we will make some exceptions.

Food is one of those.

Now through Feb. 12, The Greater Starkville Development Partnership is encouraging customers to support local and dine at restaurants for this year’s annual Souperbowl event as a way to showcase Starkville’s culinary scene.

In February, the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association holds its annual steak and burger competition with the winners announced at the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson. Not to be outdone, the Mississippi Poultry Association is staging a state-wide competition for “best wings.” The online voting continues through Feb. 2 with the winner also being announced at the Dixie National Rodeo.

Most of these competitions have an ulterior motive, of course, mainly marketing their products and selling more chickens or beef or pork or fish, etc., or attracting customers to a particular restaurant. As far as the sponsors of these competitions goes, it matters not a whit who winds up with the prize. The idea is to get people thinking about their product.

Americans love their food and are often passionate about it, which is why these competitions are successful.

Food isn’t the only thing folks feel develop strong attachments to, of course. In fact, where there are options there are disagreements.

Each year The Dispatch invites readers to participate in our Best of the Triangle contest with tens of thousands of votes placed for favorites in dozens of categories.

These contests/competitions strike a chord in folks. If we like something, we want to share it and celebrate it.

Part of the appeal is that these contests are presented in a positive light.

We could just as easily have a “Worst of the Golden Triangle,” but it would be a very bad idea, no matter how many people participated.

These competitions, especially when it comes to food, avoid that sort of nastiness. Granted, we often have a firm opinion on what we like best, but we recognize our preferences are subjective. From mayonnaise (Duke’s, Hellmann’s, Kraft, Miracle Whip) to barbecue (Kansas, Carolina, Deep South, Texas) to pizza (New York, Chicago, Detroit), all of us claim to know which is best and we’ll debate it vigorously, but always in a good-natured way.

The emergence of the chicken wings debate is particularly interesting. There was a time, not that long ago, when no one had a preferred chicken wing because, well, people didn’t consider them a delicacy.

The first buffalo chicken wings to appear on a restaurant menu came in 1964 at a bar/restaurant in Buffalo, New York, but mass consumption didn’t follow until fast-food restaurants (McDonald’s, KFC, Domino’s) began offering wings to customers across the country in the early 90s.

Previously, the chicken wing ranked only slightly higher than the throw-away parts (chicken necks, gizzards) that came when chickens were mostly sold as whole fryers. Even when cooked, nobody at the dinner table fought over the wings.

Today, they are the most expensive cut of the chicken, thanks to marketing and kitchen ingenuity. Now, there are limitless variations of fried, baked or grilled wings. And by now, we all have some pretty strong opinions about which variety is best and which restaurant prepares them best.

Pick your favorite anything and rest assured, someone is going to support a preference that doesn’t comply with yours. But we are generally gracious enough to adapt a “to each his own” posture. It’s a fun debate to have and no one is harmed.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could translate this approach to politics, where we advocated for a candidate or a position rather than attack the opposing view?

Think how much better off we would be.

Oh. And Duke’s is definitely the best mayonnaise, in case you were wondering.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.