A Conversation for Contextualization

Community Network Builders Jim and Bea
lead the ensemble on a tour of the facility.

 The Indian Ensemble Theatre of Bengaluru (Bangalore) along with Hartbeat Ensemble Co-Artistic Director Steve Ginsburg visited our Bloomfield facility today for a tour and a conversation with our President and staff. In honor of Hunger Action Month, the ensemble's visit to Foodshare is a part of a larger residency in the U.S., for the national premiere of the play "Thook (Spit)." "Thook" is a theatrical exploration of food insecurity, international trade, and hunger.

One of the ensemble members
speaks to the room.

The visit was a unique and educational experience for all - our guests learned about food insecurity on local and national levels, and walked around what was most likely the first food bank they've seen. In our conversation we also explained the significance of some of our programs, such as the Hunger Action Teams and the Summer Food Service program.

The Foodshare staff learned about food supply and insecurity in India, where the situation is different in a number of ways. These include their governmental system for distributing food and how the socioeconomic levels are much more clearly defined than ours are. One of the more striking points made was this: since the price of housing is higher than food, there is absolutely no way that an individual could have a place to live without also having food to eat.

However, that is precisely the type of situation we deal with every day with the people we serve. An individual may have a place to live, but they are splitting hairs to find money to feed themselves and their families after all other expenses are paid. There are many ways you can help ensure that no family or individual has to make a choice between eating and paying their bills, including joining the Movement, or donating directly to Foodshare to fund programs like SNAP Outreach and Mobile Foodshare.

"Thook" will be produced at the Carriage House Theater in Hartford tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30pm, and the performance will move to the Iseman Theater in New Haven next week. For more information on "Thook" and the FEEDCT Festival going on for Hunger Action Month, please visit the Hartbeat Ensemble site page.

Foodshare staff with our visitors.