Congressman McGovern to Screen Hunger Documentary at Holy Cross

U.S. Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) will screen the documentary, “A Place at the Table,” which shows how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications in the U.S., and how it could be solved, on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. in the Seelos Theater at the College of the Holy Cross. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with Congressman McGovern and the film’s co-director Kristi Jacobson. While the event is free and open to the public, donations of non-perishable food for the Quinsigamond Village Neighborhood Food Center, are encouraged.

50 million people in the U.S.—one in four children—don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. In “A Place at the Table,” 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 including Witness to Hunger’s Mariana Chilton, “Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio and Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges, as well as Congressman McGovern.

“I believe that solving hunger is a matter of politics,” explains Congressman McGovern, who recently began a series of speeches focused on the importance of ending hunger. “We have the means in America to end hunger now. We have the food, and we have the knowledge. We just haven’t mustered the political will. This film does a remarkable job demonstrating how we as a nation can and must develop a plan to end hunger now.”

According to the L.A. Times, “The Sundance Film Festival is chock full of documentaries this year about the troubles besetting America... but ‘A Place at the Table’ may rank among the most moving in that it tackles a seemingly straightforward, solvable problem: hunger in the United States. Variety writes “’A Place at the Table’ is an engaging and enraging movie that will enlist supporters for its cause.”

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