Blog

Every year more than 10 million children die of hunger and preventable diseases – that’s over 30,000 per day and one every 3 seconds. Many think malnutrition is not having enough to eat, but for many of the world’s one billion hungry people the problem is that they get too few of the minerals and vitamins that they need to thrive physically and mentally.

Theatre for the Free People is an organization which is dedicated to using the creative and performing arts to address the world’s most defining social justice issues. We believe that having access to healthy food is a basic human right and have developed a program which educates youth all over the world about food justice while giving them the skills needed to grow and prepare their own healthy organic food.

This project consists of several distinct work areas on the local, national and international levels.

Local

1Adopting a community garden in Harlem, New York which provides free and low cost food for the community and also functions as a performance/event space.

2Educating a group of seventh grade students from P.S. 218 in the Bronx on creative ways to use the arts to address and spread awareness about critical human rights issues, mainly World Hunger.

3Creating a free “Saturday School” program which educates youth about gardening and cooking as well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle and sense of self.

4Partnering with local businesses and organizations on a series of events called, “meatless mondays” which encourage people to go meatless at least once a week for your health and the environment.

National

5Publishing a kid-friendly vegetarian cookbook and educational guide for use in classrooms, households and community-based organizations all over the nation.

6Producing a short film called “Breaking the Food Chains” which examines how a new generation of New York City activists have created community based ways of producing food in an affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.

International

7Encouraging emerging artists : activists to engage in solution-based conversations around the topic of Food Justice through international exchange.

8Launching a “seed money” campaign which invests in agricultural research and projects including (but not limited to) the distribution of seeds and assistance growing fruits and vegetables in the world’s most rural, impoverished and destitute areas. Think: Solar powered water irrigation systems and other innovative ideas to provide food and water to those in need.

About the Film

One of the greatest and often unspoken forms of oppression experienced in marginalized communities is the lack of access to healthy food. Our communities are saturated with bullet-proof fast food joints, poorly stocked supermarkets, even disgusting “bodegas” with rotten and out-of-date food. We are brainwashed into accepting that an appetite for fast food and corporate farming are defining aspects of American culture. Our health and bodies are paying the price, but what are we doing about it?

“Breaking the Food Chains” is a short film which highlights the increasing number of grassroots movements in New York, where local people are re-imagining their collective relationships with food. This film examines how a new generation of activists have created community based ways of producing food in an affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. The documentary will be distributed to various local and national media outlets and marketed to schools, universities and community-organizations with a corresponding educational package including lesson plans, recipes and screening kit.

Resources:

How much do you know about Hunger? Read “11 Myths About Global Hunger” or Test your Hunger IQ. Play the game “Free Rice” which donates 10 grains of rice for every correct answer to the World Food Programme.

Re-imagining Harlem Campaign

This project is a component of Theatre for the Free People’s “Re-imagining Harlem Campaign” which will develop a largescale eco-friendly artist residency and community center which features a rooftop garden, food cooperative and cafe. It will also provide free and low cost arts programming and education to the community while providing affordable live/work spaces for artists who are dedicated to using their creativity as a vehicle for social change.