Manor to screen film on hunger in America

Do you know where your next meal is coming from?

About 50 million Americans (including one in four children) don’t.

“A Place at the Table” is a documentary film that tells the powerful stories of three such people who maintain their dignity as they struggle to find enough to eat. Presented by Sylvester Manor Educational Farm, this film will be shown at the Manor office on Thursday, August 18, at 7 p.m.

A meet and greet with refreshments on the Manor House porch begins at 6:30 p.m. The film will be followed by a Q & A with the director, Lori Silverbush, and her husband, the film’s executive director, Tom Colicchio. Mr. Colicchio is a restaurateur, celebrated chef, who has served as a Top Chef judge, and founder of Plate of the Union, a fair food advocacy group. The two live on the North Fork.

“A Place at the Table” shows the devastating connections between poverty, food insecurity, hunger and an unhealthy lifestyle that many Americans face.

The same creators of “Food, Inc.” reveal in this film how impoverished Americans often have no choice but to purchase the “cheapest calories” they can find: processed food.

This spurs a vicious cycle in which access to healthy, affordable food has become increasingly elusive.

The film presents statistics with plenty of shock value, including that one out of every two kids in the United States will at some point require food assistance.

While access to this assistance is important day-to-day, the film claims, “charity is not the way to end hunger,” looking to successful past government policies.

“A Place at the Table” invites its audience to action, promoting the power of individual voices.

More information about the film can be found at: takepart.com/place-at-the-table.

This event is appropriate for the whole family. Tickets are $10 (kids under 12, free) and can be purchased at sylvestermanor.org. Call (631) 749-0626 for more information.