A Place at the Table The Crisis of 49 Million Hungry Americans and How to Solve It

49 million people in the U.S.--one in four children--go hungry every day, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. The documentary Finding Northexamines this issue through the lens of three people for who are struggling with food insecurity: Barbie, a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her two kids; Rosie, a Colorado second-grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a Mississippi fifth-grader whose asthma and health issues are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her hardworking mother can afford. Their stories are interwoven with insights from experts including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel and nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle; ordinary citizens like Pastor Bob Wilson and teachers Leslie Nichols and Odessa Cherry; and activists such as Witness to Hunger's Mariana Chilton, Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges. Finding North: A Participant Guideis a tie-in anthology that develops the film's themes through essays from food and hunger activists and reformers, outlining how to get involved now and innovative ways to reshape the American welfare system. Ultimately, the film and the book will show us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides - as they have in the past - that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.

Peter Pringle is the author and coauthor of ten books on science and politics, including the New York Times Notable Book, Food Inc., the bestselling Those Are Real Bullets: Bloody Sunday, Derry, 1972, and a mystery-thriller about food and patents, Day of the Dandelion. For thirty years, he was a foreign correspondent for British newspapers, including the Sunday Times, the Observer, and the Independent. He lives in New York City.