This 2011 article from North and South Mag. based on Andrew Smith’s book
Star ing the Soyth: How the North Won the Civil War, paints a different story than described above:
“Confederate leaders were well aware of the
South’s reliance on imported food, and from
the beginning of the war, they encouraged Southerners to increase the production of staples. Plantations, powered by slaves, answered the call by decreasing cotton production and increasing food crops. As a result, food production on southern plantations soared during the first year of the conflict. It was a different story on smaller farms, however. With
a large percentage of southern men under arms, there were far fewer farm laborers to work the land. As agricultural historian Charles Ramsdell wrote of Southern agriculture, “There were large sections of the country—the small farm sections, primarily—almost bare of agricultural labor. The result was a marked decline in production.” Moreover, as Federal armies steadily gained control of Confederate territory, many food producing areas were cut off, contributing to an even greater decline in total food production. The war also devastated agricultural areas still within the Confederacy—such as northern Virginia, much of Louisiana, and northern Mississippi— and this too reduced Southern food production. To avoid the fighting, plantation owners near Union lines moved their households and slaves further into the interior, which removed yet more productive agricultural land from cultivation and also brought more hungry mouths deeper into the South.
Meanwhile, slaves who remained on plantations became less willing to work, especially if plantation owners and their overseers were away fighting the war. Other slaves headed for Union lines, seeking whatever opportunities were available. By the war’s end, the total number of former slaves behind Union lines numbered one million, many of whom joined the Union army or worked on Union-controlled plantations.
Beginning in the second year of the war, the loss of agricultural areas and the loss of farm laborers began to affect agricultural production. Bad weather added to the Confederacy’s subsistence problems by significantly decreasing grain production in the South. Less grain meant less feed for animals and meat production.”
It goes on to describe how the transportation system broke down under wartime stress and the food pipeline collapsed. As you would expect it was a lot more complicated than a few old greedy plantation owners or a belle wanting a new dress, but that’s where we are today in writing history.