A Place at the Table Page #8

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Oh, we're good. Let it go.

I was gonna help you again.

- No.

- That's it?

Lalani.

When I was on food stamps,

I didn't have to worry

about my kids not eating.

It was just

how can I make it stretch?

You know, I might have

to take a little bit from this day.

It was more

about balancing everything,

where now we have nothing.

I literally have nothing left.

Like, I'm gonna give 'em

a Hot Pocket for dinner tomorrow.

What am I supposed to do?

What do I give them?

Yeah.

We have to put a system

in place where people get...

and have enough time... to get

themselves back on their feet.

It's not like you get a full-time job,

the next month

you're off of food stamps,

and all is... all is well.

It doesn't happen that way.

We don't have a food policy

in this country to address hunger.

We never have.

We have a welfare system

that is very limited in its ability

to get people on their feet,

which is what you really want,

is you want to empower people

to be able to make enough money

to buy their own food and

take care of their own needs.

We don't have anything

that does that.

We sort of have

this love-hate relationship

with poverty and the poor.

On the one hand, you know,

we have a wonderful history

of helping others

and a lot of good rhetoric.

"Bring us your struggling masses

yearning to be free."

This is the land of opportunity,

and we care about one another.

And we do in many ways.

But our care is

always predicated on the fact

that we're worried

that somebody else

is getting something for free

or something they don't deserve.

In our country,

we put a lot of emphasis on self-reliance,

on everybody fending

for themselves, liberty.

And those are all great strengths.

But as a nation,

it has not been our strength

to do what we can to reduce poverty.

"Corduroy is a bear

who once lived

"in the toy department

of a big store."

I feel like America

has this huge stigma

of how families are supposed

to eat together at a table.

But they don't talk about

what it takes to get you there.

Or what's there when

you're actually at the table.

Bring that bucket.

There's probably

600, 700 chefs here,

all really committed to helping

this problem that we have

with child obesity and hunger.

- Here, grab the leaves...

- Okay.

And break them in pieces like this.

- We're gonna toss on the spinach.

- Oh, look at that.

We're working to make sure

that families and communities

across this country have access

to quality affordable food.

It's so good.

If they get a first taste

of broccoli and green beans

and peas and things like that,

it'll stick with them for life.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

There's a lot of education

that needs to sort of happen again

around food,

and around what is healthy.

And there has gotta be a way

where healthy food...

fruits and vegetables...

are made accessible

and less expensive

than they are now.

We're spending $20 billion a year

on agricultural subsidies

for the wrong foods.

$20 billion

would go a very long way

to promoting

a healthy, educated population,

starting with kids.

Now, close the book.

Put the book away.

Thank you. All right.

I want you to feel this

so you can see

the texture of the outside

of the honeydew melon.

Uh, try not to drop it.

Look at the color.

You kinda feel the weight.

What is this called?

Honeydew melon.

We are now...

We are pushing, if you go to the store,

and Mom asks you,

"What you want?"

Don't say chips.

Say, "I want fruit."

And so we're looking

for inexpensive healthy foods.

So that's what we're working

on now in the classroom.

And we're looking for alternatives.

Is it rough or is it smooth?

- It's smooth.

- It's smooth.

I brought it so that when they see

it in the store, they can relate.

"That's a honeydew

not sliced already."

Everybody ready?

Get set... and taste.

What adjectives would you use

to describe the honeydew melon?

Good. Juicy. Everything.

Would you buy one?

How many of you would buy,

or would like to buy a honeydew melon?

I'd buy two of 'em.

You would buy two.

You love 'em, huh?

But now,

what about how you like 'em

compared to chips?

Which one do you like better?

Honeydew! Honeydew!

Honeydew! Honeydew, baby!

Let's take a vote.

How many people love

the honeydew,

would prefer the honeydew

over the chips?

If you said...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

9, 10, 11, 12.

Ooh, we're way over 50%.

I love it. I love it. Mm-hmm.

I think I go out of my way

to try to take that burden

and that worry away from kids

because I was there.

And teaching, it kind of

puts you in that natural place

to say, you know, yes, obviously

I can make a difference

in the education of a child,

but I think it's

so much more than that.

It's that personal connection

that goes beyond that.

Last year you missed...

twenty days of school.

This year you've missed seven days.

And five were

when you had pink eye

and you couldn't be at school.

And I know you wanted

to be at school.

- Yeah, I did.

- Remember when I stopped by

your house

and we talked about that?

- Yeah.

- So do you think being...

My dream is to be

an honor roll student.

My other dream is, um...

Have you heard of the Extreme

Makeover:
Home Edition?

I always have a dream every night

that they would

come tear down our house,

let us go for a vacation.

I just wish they would come

and actually rescue us

from our house.

But we don't have a story

like they do.

I want my kids to have

a better life than I do.

Have more food,

have a bigger house, no mold.

And they get to do

what they want to do

and what they need to do.

And never be hungry.

Like, you take 'em

one at a time.

We know we can't help everyone,

but we can help one or two.

So you take those

and look at 'em, and go, "Wow.

"In that life,

we made a difference."

It's about patriotism, really.

Yeah, that's what it is, you know?

Stand up for your country,

you know?

How do you envision

your country, you know?

Do you envision it...

a country where one in four

of the kids are hungry?

What I'm hoping is that maybe

an increase in the problem

is part of the solution.

That that's gonna finally

wake people up to how...

You know, what dire straits

we're in here with this.

Do we just continue to give

more cans of food

through the food drives?

That's not the answer.

The answer is widespread

governmental programs

that are focused

on the human being.

I think Americans, basically,

want to do the right thing.

There's a lot of issues

that we could all struggle with

for a long time

we wouldn't know how to solve.

I don't know how to solve

the climate change problem,

you know, by myself.

I don't know how to come up

with a vaccine for AIDS.

I don't know how to,

you know, end terrorism.

But when it comes to hunger

in this country,

we know the solutions because

we've proven it in the past.

We all have a stake in this,

and we really need

to reclaim agricultural policy

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