More Reviews about 'A Place at the Table' (The New York Times, Epicurious, The Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times)

A Place at the Table has received many great reviews, which I've shared on this blog (NPR, The Washington Post, RogerEbert.com).  It's  really great to see the documentary get so much attention because it helps promote  Bread for the World's 2013 Offering of Letters.

The film has already screened at dozens of theaters around the country and is scheduled to be shown in dozens of others through May 19.   The Cinemathique in Santa Fe was among dozens of theaters around the country that showed the movie during the first week of March, and we're hoping to get The Guild in Albuquerque to show it too.  See complete list of scheduled showings.  By the way, you can also rent the documentary on I-Tunes.

Now I want want to share excerpts from four other reviews.

The New York Times

  Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times offers a great opening statement in her review. Stepping lightly and carrying a very small stick, “A Place at the Table” documents hunger in America with studied politeness. Revealing little that a moderately informed viewer will not already know, the film shies away from the outrage and bare-knuckle journalism that this shameful topic deserves....his restraint extends to interviewees who, however shocking their message, deliver it with careful gentility.   Read full review

Epicurious

The documentary has attracted attention beyond the traditional media.  For example, the food and gourmet cooking site Epicurious has its own take on the documentary.  Here are a couple of paragraphs from a review by Kemp Minifie.

Better pass on the popcorn for this show, though. The movie explores the hidden topic of hunger in America in such a way that you are likely to find yourself feeling uncomfortable in your cushy seat at the theater. All the more reason to see this movie.

The real tragedy the movie so clearly exposes, though, is the life-long damage poverty and hunger do to children, who, we must keep reminding ourselves, are the future of our country. The latest statistic is that at the rate America is going, 1 in every 2 applies not only to the number of kids who will be on federal food assistance at some point in their lives, but also to the number who will get diabetes.   Read full review

The Christian Science Monitor

Here are a couple of paragraphs from reviewer Peter Rainer.

In a country with an overabundance of food, why are there an estimated 49 million Americans who do not know where their next meal is coming from? “A Place at the Table,” a documentary directed by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush, seeks answers by going directly to the people involved – Washington lawmakers, authors, economists, and, above all, the people who are hurting.

The film makes the point that in America we don’t think a child is severely hungry unless he or she looks like a skin-and-bones sub-Saharan sufferer. But all body types can qualify. In fact, as Raj Patel, the author of “Stuffed & Starved,” says, hunger and obesity, so often founded on cheap carbohydrates, are closely linked.  Read full Review

Los Angeles Times

Reviewer John Horn gives you some interesting background on what prompted filmmakers Lori Silverbrush and Kristi Jacobson and executive producer Tom Colicchio to produce this documentary.

The movie's genesis was a phone call Silverbush and her husband, the New York-based chef and "A Place at the Table" executive producer Tom Colicchio, received from a middle school principal. The couple were mentoring a 12-year-old, and the administrator was on the line to report that the student was rummaging through the trash looking for food. She was one of the invisibly hungry: To unsuspecting eyes, she looked well fed but was actually among more than 16 million U.S. children suffering from hunger or "food insecurity," a condition where the prospects of filling, healthful meals are doubtful.

Even those familiar with hunger in America might be startled by some of their findings, including the scarcity of fresh fruit and vegetables in many locations across the country. These so-called food deserts exist not only in rural locations but also urban settings, where junk food and soda are readily accessible while apples and carrots have left the building.  Read full review