(TOMS RIVER, NJ) -- Dig into the people, ingredients and events that shape the foods on tables across America. Smithsonian Institution Curator Paula J. Johnson will discuss Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us, in an Ocean County Library Virtual Author Talk on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 2:00pm.

The Director of the Smithsonian’s American Food History Project will elaborate on the influences of migration and immigration on flavor and nutrition, the marketing of food and kitchen innovations, and contributions of notables such as Julia Child and James Beard.

She will also show how growers and chefs are helping to shape our collective kitchen consciousness by reviving regional and cultural traditions, ingredients and techniques.

Please register at https://libraryc.org/theoceancountylibrary to attend this free program, to view the upcoming schedule, and to view previous talks. Registrants will receive links to the program by email and may submit questions for the author when signing up.

During three decades of collecting artifacts and archiving for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Paula Johnson has illustrated American diversity through field research, oral histories and community documentation that form the foundation of her books and lectures on food and wine history, maritime life, and Chesapeake Bay. Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us is available at the Ocean County Library.