A Place at the Table
by Ashley White
Starring Jeff Bridges, Tom Colicchio, Ken Cook. Directed by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush
We've all seen the commercials with children from countries like Ethiopia with frail bodies asking us to send money to help feed them. We feel bad, but we continue with our lives and we're grateful that we don't live that way. But we do. Hunger affects us right here in America and A Place at the Table highlights the epidemic of hunger that goes way beyond having enough food.
The film opens up with beautiful scenes of Collbran, CO. You imagine a small, peaceful town with no worries, but then you meet Rosie. Rosie is a young girl that tugs on your heartstrings as she tells her story of how she survives on a daily basis without eating food.
Then there's Barbie. She's a single mother with two young children who wants a better life for them, but she doesn't have adequate funds to do so. In addition to not having enough money, she doesn't have enough food for her children either. This may seem like a typical single mother scenario, but not having proper meals for her kids has affected the development of her son who was diagnosed with immune deficiency and slow speech.
Jeff Bridges, an Oscar award-winning actor and longtime advocate against hunger, is in the film and shares his thoughts on how we can overcome the issue of hunger.
A Place at the Table discusses the concept of food insecurity - not knowing where your next meal is going to come from - and how charities, soup kitchens and food banks have become lifesavers in America. The film also shows that obesity and hunger are closely related. This may seem strange, but when you think about how expensive healthier foods are like fruits and vegetables are, it makes perfect sense. When you have a low income, you're more likely to purchase the inexpensive, processed foods.
This film is eye-opening and shows how millions of Americans suffer from hunger. As much as we are aware of this issue, A Place at the Table causes us to think about how that could be when we have more than enough food for everyone. —Ashley White
© 2013
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