Hungry to Learn Film & Conversation

Conversation

On March 25, 2021 at 5:30 pm, Sherry Hooper, Executive Director of The Food Depot in Santa Fe, NM and Sarita Cargas, D.Phil., Associate Professor, Human Rights, University of New Mexico Honors College, will discuss the realities of student hunger in New Mexico. Dr. Cargas recently published Basic Needs Insecurity at UNM, which confirms the dire circumstances depicted in Hungry to Learn. One in three UNM students is food insecure, a number higher than the broader population of New Mexico, and even higher among specific populations: Native American (52%), gay and lesbian (46%), and Hispanic (35%). Further, 20.5% of UNM students surveyed experienced the double burden of food and housing insecurity. Like the film, the UNM report suggests specific responses to the crisis, which contributes to and reproduces educational inequalities.

Film

Hungry to Learn, a film by award-winning producer Soledad O’Brien and director Geeta Gandbhir, is an inspiring and motivating documentary that investigates the crisis of food insecurity that affects students on every American college campus. It follows several students as they struggle to secure adequate food and housing while working and attending college; they are representative of more than a million students in college and university across the country. The film also explores student-led campus strategies and the growing national movement to address this crisis. The film adds a painfully specific context to the current political debates about the burden of student debt created by tuition that has risen 96% over the past 30 years, while student aid has not kept pace.

The film streams from March 15 - 29 for free. To view it during those dates, copy the following link: https://gooddocs.net/apps/downloads/orders/outreach%2540gooddocs.net/36776703 Please note that viewership is limited to 400, so first come, first served!

For more information about the event and how you can take action now and in the future, please click here.

About the Sponsors

This event is sponsored by The Food Depot, New Mexico First, and Presbyterian Healthcare Services.