The Hunger Heroes (2000)

Crisscrossing the United States, this one-hour documentary looks at the problem of Hunger and, most importantly, its solutions, focusing on individuals who are on the front line of solving it. Along with food recipients and food bank operators, a number of celebrities and high-profile public officials active in the hunger cause are interviewed, including: Danny Glover; Harry Belafonte; Valerie Harper; Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary fame; Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman; and President Bill Clinton. The documentary investigates the hunger problem and regional solutions developed in Atlanta; Chicago; Washington, DC; New York City; Los Angeles; Miami; and West Virginia. The Hunger Heroes also documents how two unique programs, the DC Central Kitchen and its founder, Robert Egger, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository and its retired Marine Corps General executive director Mike Mulqueen, serve as national models for solving the hunger problem. Issues such as whether the right to food is a "civil right" and whether government or the private sectors should solve the problem are contentious themes that are explored through this one-hour look at a serious and often over looked issue in the world's richest nation.