A Suffolk woman has started a campaign to get Southern food into the mouths of overworked soul-food lovers everywhere.

Tanya Howard, a New Jersey girl with roots in Barbados who got transplanted here when she married a Hampton Roads native, founded Mouth Meets South after noticing a dearth of Southern cuisine in the freezer section at the grocery store.

Howard is a corporate affairs professional and former journalist who enjoys every ethnic type of food, including American fare.

“Sometimes, I would get home very late, and I’m a woman who relied on frozen foods quite often,” she said.

She noticed Italian, Mexican, Mediterranean and East Indian dishes, among others, in the freezer section. But she missed items like fried catfish, barbecued ribs, corn pudding and candied yams — all of which are among the items she hopes to include in Mouth Meets South dishes.

“Soul food has been here for hundreds of years, but it hasn’t been offered as a pre-assembled, individual meal in the frozen food section,” Howard said.

Many Southern dishes take a lot of time to make from scratch, Howard noted.

“A lot of love goes into this cuisine, but often a lot of time and preparation,” she said. “Mouth Meets South provides the convenience of heating and eating our microwaveable meals within minutes.”

While a soul-food restaurant is not usually far away, it’s easier to be able to eat at home, she said.

“Sometimes, you don’t always want to go out to a restaurant,” she said. “I think it’s super you can reach in your refrigerator and grab what you want.”

Among other potential future offerings are fried chicken, oxtails, smothered pork chops, seasoned green beans, macaroni and cheese and more.

“It’s those rich comfort foods that really make you think about culture and tradition and home for many people,” she said.

Howard has started an Indiegogo campaign to help her bring the product to market. It features some enticing incentives — anyone who gives $1,000 will have a meal named after them, for instance.

“A lot of people are excited,” she said. “It’s been a very favorable response.”

She’s working with a co-packer who can help her cook and assemble the meals, but she would eventually like to be able to start her own small manufacturing plant in the area and employ Virginians, she said.

She’s already talking to grocery and retail chains about carrying Mouth Meets South meals.

“It’s definitely a journey,” she said. “I would say I’m getting closer to getting it to the marketplace.”

Howard hopes the product will be available in stores this year.

View the Indiegogo campaign at igg.me/at/mouthmeetssouth.