The documentary A Place at the Table is hitting theaters on March 1, 2013 and in conjunction with the film’s debut Share Our Strength, Bread for the World, Feeding America, and Food Research & Action Center are teaming up for ‘Take Your Place,’ a national action center to provide information on “actions people can take on a national and local level.”
Congressman Jim McGovern, who puts in an appearance in A Place at the Table, said, “Hunger is a political condition – we have the resources to end it, but we lack the political will. A sustained, coordinated grassroots effort is essential to combating hunger and to making the United States a more secure, more humane, and more prosperous nation. The social action campaign around A Place at the Table is a welcome addition to the cause.”
The campaign launched the 855-48TABLE phone center, the takepart.com/table website, and the ability for people to get information via text (FOOD to 77177) in order “to access ways to drive systemic change around food insecurity, along with choices to impact the interconnected issues of hunger, poverty and obesity in the city, county or state where they live.”
Chad Boettcher, Participant’s Executive Vice President of Social Action & Advocacy, added, “We conducted a national study and found that 72% of adults in the United States said they would most likely use ‘a website as a one-stop shop’ for actions to end hunger. Working with the country’s four largest anti-hunger organizations, along with dozens of regional organizations, all these opportunities for engagement will now be available in one central location.”
“More than 16 million children in America struggle with hunger, but we know that hunger is a solvable problem,” said Billy Shore, founder and CEO of Share Our Strength. “We all have a strength to share that can help make that a reality. By partnering with Participant Media to develop the online action center for the ‘Take Your Place’ social action campaign, we’re giving concerned citizens ways to help end hunger in their own communities and nationwide.”
Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and World Food Prize laureate, adds, “We believe A Place at the Table will ignite a much-needed public discussion on the causes of hunger and how we can end it that we adopted it as our theme for our annual Bread for the World’s 2013 Offering of Letters. Our campaign petitions the president to set a goal and work with Congress to enact a plan to end hunger. All of us have a responsibility to ensure a place at the table for everyone—not just those blessed with wealth, power, and influence.”
The Details – A Place at the Table:
From Participant Media and Magnolia Pictures, the companies who brought you Food, Inc., comes another astonishing documentary that exposes a serious problem that affects 1 out of 6 Americans – these could be your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers, and you would never know, because people are too ashamed to talk about it.
Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine this issue through the lens of three people who are 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.
Their stories are interwoven with insights from experts, including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel 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.
