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Event: Film Club presents A Place at the Table
Description: The Arena Theater Film Club will present a documentary about the issue of hunger in the US, "A Place at the Table", this Monday, May 13, at 7 p.m.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that about 50 million Americans fall into the category of "food insecurity" — meaning they don't always have the resources to buy the food they need. This includes nearly 17 million children in the U.S.
Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine this issue through the lens of three people who are struggling to put healthy food on the table, despite the fact that they have jobs: Barbie, a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; Rosie, a Colorado fifth-grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a Mississippi second-grader whose asthma and health issues are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her hardworking mother can afford.
Their stories are interwoven with insights from hunger and nutrition experts including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel ("Stuffed and Starved") and nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle; ordinary citizens like Pastor Bob Wilson and teachers Leslie Nichols and Odessa Cherry; and activists such as Witness to Hunger's Mariana Chilton, Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges.
Participant Media, which also produced the documentary "Food, Inc.", has launched a website, takepart.com. that serves as a hub for all sorts of hunger-related advocacy. Groups including Bread for the World, Feeding America, FRAC and Share Our Strength are all represented.
Billy Shore of Share Our Strength thinks that we have enough food and good nutrition programs: "Childhood hunger in this nation is a solvable problem.
What we need is to make sure the kids who need the food are able to access the programs," Shore says. The documentary is rated PG at a runtime of 84 minutes. |
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