“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” – Virginia Woolf
I saw this quote posted on the official Facebook page for the new movie, “A Place at the Table.” It hits theaters, iTunes and OnDemand on Friday, March 1.
The quote spoke to me because it summed up nicely a point I try to make every time I speak publicly about the issue of hunger and the work being done by the St. Louis Area Foodbank.
Hunger is something that almost everyone can identify with. From young school children to elderly adults, at some point in our lives, most of us have been too busy to eat breakfast or lunch.
What I try to stress at speaking engagements is that most of us know hunger by choice, but those dealing with food insecurity are not just missing one meal. They are missing multiple meals and are trying to figure out where their next meal will come from.
Adults know how hard it can be to concentrate on a work project if they skip a meal and it’s more difficult for young children trying to pay attention at school.
Because it often requires people to swallow their pride to ask for help, many are reluctant to speak about their struggles. This leads many to believe that hunger is not that big of an issue.
That is what makes a film like “A Place at the Table” so important.
According to the film’s website, it shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides — as they have in the past — that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.
The film’s directors, Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush, examine the issue of hunger in America through the lens of three people struggling with food insecurity: 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.
I would encourage you to go see this film. The more people learn about the issue of hunger, the more potential allies the Foodbank will have in our efforts find solutions to this ongoing issue.
For more information on “A Place at the Table,” please visit:https://www.takepart.com/place-at-the-table/
