Food History at the National Book Festival
By Sarah Lohman
I'm Sarah Lohman, a food historian and author. My latest book Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods was selected by Nevada Humanities to represent the state at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
Photograph courtesy of Sarah Lohman
The Book Festival was a one-day event on Saturday, August 22, 2026. The event drew over 45,000 attendees in a 12-hour period. When I arrived at 8:00 am, there was already a line at the front door to get in. I’ve never been in a festival environment this crowded or this delightful. Groups of book nerds were there to learn, meet their favorite authors and show off their matching book outfits. My favorite was a group of three women with t-shirts that said “Bookmarks are for Quitters.”
The event featured esteemed guest speakers like Martin Scorsese and Kate McKinnon, but there was an area for “Great Reads from Great Places” where every US state and territory featured two authors and their books. Tables were set in a giant U-shape, with authors and Humanities staffers there passing out state swag and engaging with readers. Although some states featured well-known authors – like Nebraska chose Karen Russel and her newest book The Antidote – often the books were lesser known local authors, with books from small presses, University publishers, or even self-published. It was so special to see some hyper-local books get national attention, like hard cider expert Diane Flynt’s book Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South.
Photograph courtesy of Sarah Lohman
My day at the book festival started by scampering down to the sublevel and into the enormous Politics and Prose on-site bookstore. There were books from all the authors that were speaking and signing at the event, as well as a lot of cute book related stuff – I bought adorable pencil pouches as souvenirs for me and my friends. The shop had a designated section for the Great Reads from Great Places and each selection was marked by state. It made me feel really proud to see my books under “Nevada”. It took some time to sign them and then headed upstairs to find the Nevada booth.
My book, Endangered Eating, is about rare and hyper local foods in the United States. I brought a few hands-on examples of ingredients featured in my book to engage visitor’s senses. I brought some real wild rice from upper Minnesota, which is so different from the grocery store product. I invited people to smell the grains, which have a grassy, fresh water scent. I also brought filé from Louisiana, which is a thickener and seasoning made from fried, ground sassafras leaves. This ingredient is a part of traditional creole and Cajun cuisine, and it originally came from the Choctaw people. It’s a bright green color with a citrusy smell. I should have also brought some Mesquite beans and Mesquite flour and some pinion pine nuts from Southern Nevada – two of our most delicious local ingredients!
Photograph by bankbryan.
Photograph courtesy of Sarah Lohman
Sadly, due to federal funding cuts, I was the only person that could make it from Nevada this year, but the local Junior League staffed the event with the most kind and engaged volunteers. and the volunteers were amazing women who are so engaged. The convention center doors opened at 8:30 am; I talked straight through from 8:30 to noon without stopping! I engaged with people who hadn’t heard of my work and met some people that have been following me for years. Writing can be such an isolating practice, I find these moments of connection with fans to be deeply encouraging. A woman came up to me with her toddler and handed me a copy of my first book, Eight Flavors, for me to sign. She said, “I’ve been following you since you were a blogger.” I started blogging in 2008 so she has been reading my work for almost 20 years! She and her daughter had even made some of my recipes together.
Photograph by bankbryan.
When I clocked out of my “shift” to go enjoy the rest of the festival, I stopped by the bookstore again to discover all of my books had sold!
I feel like I’ve been hearing since the start of my career that “people aren’t reading anymore” and “book stores are dead.” It’s hard to wrap my head around those takes after witnessing the crowded, joyful community of the National Book Festival.
Photograph courtesy of Sarah Lohman
P.S. I also went to DC because I have several close friends that live there and they treated me to delicious food and drink all weekend. I highly recommend Doi Moi for Thai food and drinks. They’ve got an extensive vegan menu and the food is deeply flavorful. And I had my favorite cocktail of the weekend: a frozen pandan coconut cocktail. Creamy vanilla flavors, with a perfect balance of sweet and tart, it set me straight during the hot and humid weekend. I also had a great meal at Oh! Naan and cocktails Jane Jane, and a relaxing Sunday at Dacha beer garden.
Photograph by Krystal Ramirez
Sarah Lohman is a culinary historian and the author of the bestselling books Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods and Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. She focuses on the history of food as a way to access the stories of diverse Americans. Endangered Eating was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and was named one of the Best Books of 2023 by Amazon’s Editors, Food & Wine, and Adam Gopnik on the Milk Street podcast. It was a finalist for the Nach Waxman Prize for Food & Drink Scholarship and winner of the Ohioana Library Book Prize for Nonfiction. Lohman’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and NPR. Lohman has lectured across the country, from the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC, to The Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Lohman is based in Henderson.