A Place at the Table Documentary Essay

Joey Rossetti

A Place at the Table

        This was definitely a touching and emotionally powerful movie to watch. I would have to say this film sparked a vial amount anger, curiosity, insight, and awareness throughout my mind like most touchy documentaries tend to do. A lot of suspiring information has been brought to my attention however I believe one thing after viewing this film: hunger should not be seen as just a human need but a right.

The relatable real life examples in this movie caused most of the emotions I felt as these are actual people who aren’t acting. It was amazing to think about how here in New York City we all live in our own “prestigious” bubble where national (or even local) concerns are seen as something we do not have time for. However, in reality, there is starving children and struggling families all around us with stagnant improvement if that. Not to mention our food/agriculture system is broken—which also brought me a good amount of awareness when concerns come to that issue alone. I was actually very surprised when the film broke down the facts about how our agriculture system is soiled and tainted for the major rich corporate companies. Although I believe these issues obviously go hand and hand as we see how fruits/veggies are more expensive than chips or cake, what a sad outcome that is. It is amazing to realize that we let these major companies and our government get away with so much detriment. This just goes to show how money really does rule the world; a not so astonishing conclusion once figured out. All in all, I think the most astounding part of this film was the powerful awareness A Place at the Table portrayed which it will hopefully have on everyone’s minds.

As to the question of what I think just isn’t true I really don’t have too much to say. One can really not argue with a fact based documentary on real life issues. Everything that was stated and proclaimed was for the most part spot on and not deceptive. From my perspective the people who were focused upon didn’t seem to be acting but actually living the nightmare—which concludes that the struggle is in fact true for them. Although if there is one thing I don’t believe is true it’s that we are actually going to see a change in future years which is very sad. When we consider the grandfathered system we are currently in and the debt we possess change is not so evident I don’t think. Yes, the want to change is most definitely there - if not stronger than ever - but these things are usually easier said than done. And the big government will always address that they have “larger” problems to allocate their time/resources to.

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