Educational Media Reviews Online

Fifty million Americans live without adequate food; that number represents more people than live in the entire nation of Canada. A Peace of Bread explores Jewish and Christian efforts to alleviate immediate hunger and to advocate for sustainable practices that could end it altogether. The film focuses on two primary areas: immediate relief and efforts focused on addressing the root causes of hunger through political advocacy and sustainable farming practices.

The film begins by looking at advocacy efforts to alleviate hunger. Representatives from advocacy groups like Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Bread for the World, and the American Jewish World Service discuss the importance of lobbying efforts, pointing out that since the United States considers itself a religious nation, every district in the country can be considered a constituency that can encourage elected officials to act so that every person in the United States has enough to eat.

The film’s second focus is on initiatives that provide food to people in immediate need. Efforts including the Society of St. Andrew’s Gleaning Network, the weekly food pantry provided by the Berean Seventh Day Adventist Church in Atlanta, and the food cooperative spearheaded by New York City’s Westside Campaign Against Hunger illustrate faith-based approaches for providing food today. In each effort, speakers emphasize the importance of respecting the dignity of each person who receives aid.

Interviews with those who have experienced personal hunger emphasize the reality that this can happen to anyone. Tami Treadwell recalls how, even with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and twenty-four years of work experience, she found herself half a million dollars in debt after a month-long hospital stay and with not enough money left for food. David Beckmann, executive director of Bread for the World, shares how his own son experienced food insecurity as a result of former drug and alcohol addictions. Numerous statements in the voice over narration and in individual interviews point out that we are living in an economy in which people who may have formerly been donors to food banks now find themselves in line to receive food.

The film emphasizes the efforts of teenagers and young adults to work toward hunger’s end. Interviews with young adults including Eli Winkelman, who started Challah for Hunger as a college student; Nathan Ballantine (aka Man in Overalls), who works with Tallahassee area community gardens; and students at Gonzaga College High School, who cook and deliver meals to Washington, D.C. individuals experiencing food insecurity, underscore that this work can be done on some level by everyone. The emphasis placed on the efforts of young people throughout the film makes this a good choice for discussing the issue of food insecurity with teenagers.

In individual interviews, some interviewees reflect on the role faith has played in leading them to this work and supporting them in it; in both individual interviews and film narration, scriptural passages, including those from the books of Micah, Isaiah, and Matthew, are cited. One advocate states, “It’s not optional to feed the hungry; it’s a commandment.” Despite this, the film does not provide in-depth background and analysis about why anti-hunger work is regarded as being significant for faith communities.

The technical quality of the film is high. This film would make a good discussion starter for faith-based groups interested in alleviating food insecurity. It would also provide a good introduction to the many types of food-related work in which Jewish and Christian groups are already engaged. Extending the range of faith-based groups represented to include Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu groups would have strengthened the film’s claims about the many ways in which faith-based groups and organizations contribute to anti-hunger work.