"Hunger in the U.S. is a solvable problem."

There is an alarming amount of hunger in the United States, despite our collective wealth.

This fact has been cited so often that it has lost some of its power. Income inequality is old news, but it’s important not to take this for granted. How did we arrive at this moment, in which 47 million Americans rely on food stamps, and 1 in 6 Americans live in households that are food insecure?

Learn all about this state of affairs this Monday, April 7^th at Potsdam’s  Roxy Theatre. The Cinema 10 film series and GardenShare, an advocacy group, will be showing a documentary called A Place at the Table. Made by same group behind Food, Inc., the film tells the story of hunger in America by following three families on food assistance programs.

The Guardian’s Patrick Butler described A Place at the Table as “a documentary full of uncomfortable, disorientating moments.” The film

“methodically shows how widening economic inequality, state subsidy of agribusiness interests, and the dismantling of social security has created rampant food insecurity.”

Here’s the trailer.

After the documentary, local panelists will talk about what hunger looks like here in the North Country. Spoiler alert – food insecurity is severe in our region, especially in St. Lawrence County. As I reported in February, the number of county residents enrolled in SNAP has grown 40 percent over the last five years. And late last year, Canton Church and Community Program Director Catherine Matthews told me that a whopping 10 percent of Canton’s population leans on the local food pantry.

"Hunger in the United States is a solvable problem," said Aviva Gold, GardenShare's executive director, in a press release about the event. "This film and discussion can be a motivating force."

More details at GardenShare.org.