As an old grits-eater, let me share some southern knowledge with you. Maybe more than you need to know!
Hominy is a treated corn product, the kernels (dried, I think but I never made the stuff myself) are soaked in a lye solution to take away the skins, then washed and cooked or dried. The cooked ones may be bought canned and have about three times the size and one fifth the flavor of fresh corn kernels, but are more digestible and supposedly more nutritious.
Grits, a southern staple, may be made from dried corn or dried hominy. Yankees--I mean, northerners--sometimes think they are a breakfast cereal and eat them with milk and sugar. We eat them at breakfast topped with a soft fried egg, or any time with butter or gravy.
Not too different from polenta.