L.A. Times Calendar Story on 'A Place at the Table'

L.A. Times Calendar Story on 'A Place at the Table'

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One nation underfed. A Place at the Table

A Place at the Table' takes on hunger in the U.S.

Filmmakers Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush's new documentary examines the politics and possible ways out.

When people think of hunger, they might picture a starving Third World child. The makers of the new documentary "A Place at the Table" suggest the face of undernourishment can be found much closer to home: Tens of millions of U.S. citizens go to bed hungry every night.

"Americans are for the most part unaware of how vast the problem is," said Kristi Jacobson. She co-directed the film, which premieres in limited release this weekend, with Lori Silverbush, who added, "You can't see hunger in America."

In keeping with the modern wave of activist non-fiction filmmaking, "A Place at the Table" is no impartial documentary — albeit without a Michael Moore-like rabble rouser. Instead, it is a combination primer and jeremiad, an investigation into how a country with so many resources nevertheless has 16% of its population living in households that struggle with hunger and how federal subsidies benefit agribusiness at the expense of the public's well-being. 

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