SPAM: A Global History with Dr. Kelly Spring and Natalie Compton

Join Bold Fork Books as we welcome local author Dr. Kelly Spring for an evening of conversation about her book, SPAM: A Global History. Dr. Spring will be in conversation with The Washington Post's Natalie Compton.

ABOUT THE BOOK

2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a conflict that solidified SPAM’s place in global food culture. Created by Hormel Foods in 1937 to utilize surplus pork during the Great Depression, SPAM became an essential resource (and marker of American food culture) during the war. This book explores SPAM’s complex history, highlighting its enduring legacy in places like Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, Okinawa, and South Korea. Kelly A. Spring demonstrates how the enduring proteins in SPAM played a crucial role during wartime and continues to influence global diets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly A. Spring, PhD, is a food studies author, entrepreneur, researcher, and lecturer. Her work examines the impact of domestic crises and international conflict on domestic and global food systems in British and American history. Her company, The Fork Front, which is based in Washington, D.C., offers services ranging from consulting, researching and writing about food history to creating curated food history narratives, courses, and menus. She founded and is the lead convener of the Institute of Historical Research’s Food History Seminar in the UK. She is also a Fellow of the Institute. Additionally, she co-hosts the monthly food history podcast, The Hungry Historians. Kelly’s latest book, SPAM: A Global History (Reaktion Press, 2025), charts how food was used by the United States to spread its culture and values in wartime, impacting people’s foodways and lifestyles around the globe. To find out more about Kelly’s current projects, as well as her food musings and adventures, you can follow her on Instagram @theforkfront.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Natalie Compton is a travel reporter for the Washington Post, and lives just around the corner from Bold Forks in Mount Pleasant. Originally from Fresno, California, she began her journalism career in 2015 while living in Southeast Asia, and has since filed stories on travel, food and culture from every continent. She’s covered everything from how airplane food gets made to the diets of professional baseball players in Taiwan. When she’s not covering travel tips and news, her bosses like to send her to wacky places with superlative titles, like the world’s largest pizza convention and the world’s biggest truck stop. Last year, she won the grand prize for Lowell Thomas Journalist of the Year. You can follow her latest adventures on Instagram at Natbco.

Also check out other Arts events in Washington, Literary Art events in Washington, Business events in Washington.