Media Requests

The Food Historian is available for interviews on a variety of food history topics. Sarah Wassberg Johnson specializes in the history of food, cooking, nutrition science, agriculture, cookbooks, regional foodways, food-related advertising, home economics, heirloom fruits and vegetables, and food- and agriculture-related economic policy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with special expertise in the Progressive Era, World War I, Great Depression, World War II, and post-war era. 

Please note your deadline and give as much advance notice as possible to ensure a timely response. I am not food history Google - sometimes it takes a while to research your response. 

Unlimited research assistance is available to members at the $5/month or Basic membership level. Join today!

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Featured Television, Radio, Articles

Sarah Wassberg Johnson has been interviewed and featured on the following television shows:

• "The Food That Built America" miniseries, The History Channel​
• "The Rise and Fall of Jello" Business Insider

In the following articles:

• "How did vanilla come to mean boring? Blame colonialism" Mic.com
  
• "Which hot dog are you? The enduring appeal of regional food in the global digital age" Salon.com
• "22 Things You Didn't Know About Jell-O" Cheapism
• "Just Cook From the Back of the Box" Eater
• "The Deviled Egg Divide" Houston Chronicle
• "Consumers spending more at the grocery, reversing decades of increased restaurant spending" EW Scripps
• "In 1950, Americans Had Aspic. Now We Have Dalgona Coffee" The Atlantic
• "How Banana Bread Became the Unofficial Baked Good of COVID-19" Well + Good
• "Looking for Blood" Eater.com
• "Why President Coolidge Never Ate His Thanksgiving Raccoon" Atlas Obscura
• "After WWII, Mutton Fell Out Of Favor In The U.S. Can It Make A Comeback?" NPR
• "The Scientific Reasons Why Sweet-and-Salty Foods Turn Us Into Snack Monsters" Well+Good
• "American History as Told By 7 Vintage Pies" Matador Network
• "Pass Along Traditions With a Family Cookbook" NextAvenue
• "The New Definition of American Cuisine" Well+Good
• "Why Bear Fat Makes for Better Baking" Atlas Obscura
• "I tried vintage recipes from a '50s cookbook and I see why Jell-O salads aren't popular anymore" Insider.com
• "Why Lunch Is Even More Important Than Dinner for Healthy Eaters" Well + Good
• "How an Accidental Invention Changed What Americans Eat for Breakfast" History.com
• "What the 'milkshaking' zeitgeist says about our relationship to politics" Abc.net.au
• "It's 7/11 Day" CNN.com
• "In Memoriam: The Trashy Mall Food Court Smoothie of the 90s" Vice
• "Is Alt-Milk Still Milk? Inside the Food Lexicon Debate the FDA has Final Ruling On" Well+Good
• "An Oral History of Iconic American Fast Food Chains" Fashionbeans.com
• "Why We Love Avocado Toast: How a Healthy Food Trend Gets Made" Well+Good

On the following podcast/radio programs:

• "What Makes Midwestern Food Unique?" - Eat Your Heartland Out, Heritage Radio Network
• "Eggs vs. milkshakes - the history of protest foods" - Blueprint for Living, Radio National Australia

• "The Pretty Big Problem of Ugly Food" - Proof, America's Test Kitchen

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