The World Needs More Pie

06/02/2026

The Aledo Rhubarb Fest is this FRIDAY and SATURDAY! The list of fun things to do — in addition to seeing PIEOWA (at the Aledo Opera House) — includes a rhubarb pie contest, rhubarb tasting tent, derby car race (kids make the cars out of rhubarb (?!!), live music, and a 5k rhubarb run (winner gets a rhubarb pie!).
I would have included the Aledo Rhubarb Festival in PIEOWA but I didn’t learn about it until after it happened the year we were filming. By the time the next one came around I no longer had room for it. But now I get to go to it and show my film there. I’m also going to do the 5k run.

Posted on February 4, 2017February 3, 2026Event Details From tasting all things rhubarb and enjoying live music to shopping unique vendors and exploring historic downtown Aledo, there’s something for everyone at the Aledo Rhubarb Fest. Relax with family and friends, sample rhubarb treats, browse a...

05/30/2026

A few people sent me photos from this morning’s PIEOWA screening at the Mendocino Film Festival. It looked like so much fun. And check out the building it was in — it’s got windows like the American Gothic House. Like it was meant to be. Thank to my film editor Ryan Shake for doing the Q&A. And to Wendy Bardsley for showing up with such enthusiasm. Mainly, thank you to the film festival organizers for selecting my film — and for serving pie.

05/30/2026

It was a good day. 😋

05/29/2026

If you read my newsletter yesterday you know that I planned to make pie. Behold the strawberry rhubarb pies I made with my neighbor’s rhubarb. Making pie really did put me in a better frame of mind. It always does. Thank goodness for baking as therapy, thank goodness for pie. 💛

05/29/2026

I wish I could be there — this film festival looks like such fun — but my film editors Ryan Shake is going in my stead and he is as intimately familiar with PIEOWA as I am. I love that they are serving pie!!!!

05/29/2026

There are only six seats left for our free screening of the award-winning documentary "PIEOWA: A Piece of America!" Learn how pie can unite us and meet filmmaker Beth Howard. Audiences and critics agree that “it’s a tonic for what ails us.”

Howard spent four years living in the iconic American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, where she ran the Pitchfork Pie Stand. She also embarked on a round-the-world tour in 2015 teaching pie classes and promoting world peace. Today, she divides her time between an Iowa farm and Los Angeles, and she continues to write, bake pie, share her film, and advocate for a better, kinder world.

This free screening will be held at the Bettendorf Public Library on Saturday, May 30, at 2 p.m.

Pie will be available at the event, and registration is strongly encouraged to ensure we have enough pie for all attendees! Register at: https://buff.ly/IxSkP9j

05/29/2026

Hard to believe it’s been a year already since the launch of PIEOWA. What a wild and wonderful year it’s been. Can’t wait to see what the next year brings. Thanks to all of you for helping make my documentary a success.

Read my latest newsletter.

Celebrating one year of film screenings...with pie, of course

05/27/2026

Hi there! I've been pretty quiet for the past 2 weeks -- I got a cold after my Minneapolis screening which lasted into the holiday weekend, but I am better now -- just in time for my PIEOWA screening this Saturday at the Public Library (2 PM). It's free but the library is requesting that you reserve a seat. https://www.bettendorflibrary.com/event/15784860 Free pie will be served and the library is providing most of it, but moviegoers are welcome to bring a pie to share so we can ensure everyone gets a slice.

ALSO THIS SATURDAY, Pieowa is showing at the Film Festival. It's at 10AM, it's free, and pie will be served, which is awesome because film festivals don't normally serve pie. I wish I could be there -- the California coast is so beautiful and Mendocino is so charming! -- but my film editor Ryan Shake will be there in my stead for the Q&A.

Take a look at the Pieowa schedule on my website to see what's new on the calendar. Note the Emeryville, CA event on June 21 and the Washington DC plans for July 4th are no longer happening (for now) as we just couldn't work out the logistics. Truthfully, the travel was just getting to be too much and after a full year of screenings I want to spend some time at home. After I take a short break, who knows where I'll be headed! xo Beth

PIEOWA SHOWTIMES:
https://theworldneedsmorepie.com/pieowa-showtimes/

05/15/2026

What a night!!!! PIEOWA had its biggest audience ever—we had 359 people. John Noltner’s A Peace of My Mind “I Am Human” portraits on the big screen were a big hit. And the pie! I cannot thank Heather Ploen enough for her massive effort in promoting the film, coordinating all the pies, then serving them at the theater. I’m feeling so much gratitude for all those who helped make last night a success and all those who showed up to see the film. I’m especially grateful to Loren and the Riverview Theater for taking a chance on booking this humble little documentary about pie.