This week I am choosing the documentary A Place at the Table, which is also one of my favorite documentaries to date. A Place at the Table, released in 2013, delves into the topic of widespread hunger in the United States, and details the reasons behind it, as well as some of the effects it has on the individuals affected by it. Coming from a family that has had to sometimes rely on food stamps, this topic was close to my heart, and I feel it did a great job of showing the struggle that lower income families - especially those relying on a single parent - go through to try to feed their families. There are so many topics that this documentary covers; "food deserts", where families have to travel 45+ minutes just to reach a place where they can buy anything more than highly processed convenience foods; the problems with the income requirements of the SNAP program; the problems with the farm subsidy program, that makes highly processed foods cheap; and of course the serious health effects these cheap, highly processed foods have on our national health and the rising disease rates, especially in our children.
I feel that too many people are quick to judge those that have to depend on welfare, without trying to understand the difficulties they face, and the struggles they go through, just to feed their children, and I hope that those who watch this will be able to better understand how hard it can be. Nutritious, good quality food should not be reserved for those who can afford it, or live in a good area, but should be available for everyone.
I highly recommend watching A Place at the Table, as well as reading the book, by the same name. They are both very informative, and full of tons of statistics and cited research, if you want to look into the topic more deeply.
Until next time!
~Hannah ♥
