A Place at the Table

On Feb. 20, the UVa Food Collaborative is showing “A Place at the Table,” cosponsored with Market Central and Whole Foods. This film wakes us all up to the fact of prevalent hunger/food insecurity, this time not in developing poor nations across the globe, but in widespread neighborhoods of our own notably wealthy nation. Featuring Jeff Bridges, a long-time hunger activist, it follows three Americans and their challenges dealing not with any shortage of food overall but with poverty and “food desert” areas that ironically contribute to obesity.

Join us at Nau Hall 101 for a Whole Foods reception just outside 101 in Manley Commons at 5:30-6:00, the film at 6:00 pm, and a rich panel of experts following the film at 7:30. Bring your comments/questions for Dr. Jewel Hairston, Dean of the Agriculture School, VSU, and primary author of the newly released “Food Desert Report for Virginia“; Dominic Barrett of Shalom Farms, Richmond, and of the Va. Food System Council; and Ryan Blosser, a JMU permaculture educator and creator of Project GROWS and Dancing Star Farm, Waynesboro. We’ll hear about the Food Desert Report, called for by last spring’s General Assembly, and now being rolled out to State administration, legislators, and other stakeholders. Moderated by Paul Freedman, Associate Professor, Dept. of Politics.

EASY FREE PARKING: lot adjacent to NAU Hall. From JPA turn onto Brandon; Brandon is approximately across JPA from the back of Old Cabell Hall, slightly in the direction of the hospital. After turning on Brandon, the lot will be on the right.