A Place at the Table Response

I thought the movie, A Place at the Table, was fascinating for its exploration of food insecurity across the United States. One scene that spoke to me in particular was when Tremonica went to the school nurse and was asked what she ate that day. Tremonica ate nothing for breakfast, and for the rest of the day she would eat chips, drink soda, and snack on cookies. This moment helped me realize a flaw in my perception of obesity in the United States. For some reason, I have always assumed that obesity stems from people’s ignorance of the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and their preferred tastes in more fattening and sugary foods. What never became evident to me was that those people who suffer from obesity might be making those food choices out of mere necessity. Junk food is more affordable, and therefore the heads of poor households must buy those more processed foods because it’s the only thing they can afford. They look to purchase the most calories for the least amount of money, and that can only be found in junk food.

It was interesting to see that this phenomena exists all over the country, in places I wouldn’t have expected. Starvation has never seemed like a big American issue to me, but that’s because, as Barbie Izquierdo explained, people are ashamed to admit it. And even when families are starving in the US, they can find cheap calories in the processed and fattening foods, since the food industry has discovered unethical and incredibly unhealthy ways to manufacture certain foods for very little. If only it was the reverse case, and fruits and vegetables cost less than your typical bag of Doritos — then we wouldn’t be facing this gravely detrimental problem in America.