Jeff Bridges among commentators in film.
Jeff Bridges
“A Place at the Table,” a documentary focusing on three families in the United States facing hunger, will be shown on March 7 at 7 p.m. at Amherst Cinema.
A panel discussion follows the screening, which is presented by the cinema in collaboration with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
Jeff Bridges, who has spoken previously in the area on the issue of hunger, is among the commentators in the film, as is U.S Rep. Jim McGovern, D-MA.
Bridges lent his support two years ago to “No Kid Hungry,” a private partnership in Virginia to combat childhood hunger by connecting low-income kids to federal nutrition programs.
McGovern, who has delivered speeches in Congress on the issue, is scheduled to be on the panel moderated by Andrew Morehouse, the Food Bank’s executive director.
Julie Caswell, of the department of resource economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, an expert on domestic and international food systems, is also a panelist. She recently chaired the Institute of Medicine-commissioned research team that published a food stamp study titled, “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Examining the Evidence to Define Benefit Adequacy.”
“We are excited and proud to be working with Amherst Cinema, a fellow community-minded nonprofit, to bring this film to the community and spark a conversation about the very real problem of hunger in Western Massachusetts,” Morehouse said in a release.
“With the input of Rep. McGovern and Julie Caswell, two distinct expert voices on the issue, we are looking forward to investigating the cause of this ubiquitous problem, and uncovering possible solutions.”
The documentary has been drawing much media attention. Its publicity notes that what while “50 million people in the U.S. — including one in five children — don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans,” the documentary “shows us that although hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, 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 is directed by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush who follow three real stories including that of “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.”
Tickets available for the March 7 event at the cinema box office, 28 Amity St., Amherst, MA or online, www.amherstcinema.org
Tickets are $8.75, members, $6.50, students with a valid ID an seniors 65 or over, $7.75.
The film will open for a full run at the cinema on March 8 and will run through at least March 14. The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts is the leading provider of emergency food that reaches individuals and families with lower incomes. For more information on how you can get involved in your community, visit www.foodbankwma.org.