What's a Lunch Love Community Media Social?
In tandem with our online community building, we partner with groups, organizations and sponsors to hold Lunch Love Community Media Socials — lively participatory events where we spark engaged dialogue and action around food system change.
It’s a 90-minute community gathering where we blend an emulsion of film, conversation and inspirational expertise. We screen our short films, and in the intervals between, we feature live speakers who comment, question and activate audience participants.
We’ve invited local chefs, educators, policymakers, youth and scholars to interact with audiences during a Lunch Love Community media social. In these live events, the town hall meeting connects with performance theater. We also customize each event to meet the needs of the particular community where we hold a media social.
What will participants take away from this event?
Everyone is interested in their children’s health and food security. How can social equity and food reform come together for the next generation? The implications for our society are enormous.
Our partners, sponsors and audiences will learn how to use our “watch + share” films in their own work. They’ll learn more about food systems reform, what others have done successfully, and what it means for their community.
No one needs to reinvent school lunch transformation. We offer existing tools, how-to's, and resources produced by our growing list of nonprofit partners.
Participants can start up or deepen connections with one another and other organizations to work on food policy issues, and create real change that lasts.
We’ll feature examples from the field, and learn more about your community. Then we spread the news on our blog, and connect people through our network.
More segements from Media Socials:
Gail Feenstra, Food Systems Analyst, UC Davis Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program
Rafaelita ‘RC’ Curva, Director of Student Nutrition Service, Davis Joint United School District
Email admin@citizenfilm.org for more information on throwing a media social in your area.
What happens during a Media Social?
We show films. We ask questions. We explore how to make food system change in your unique community or region. We let the experts talk a little. And we ask them to listen to you -- because every locale and school district is different.
Participants leave our media socials with ideas, next steps towards action, and resources to carry on the work in their community. As facilitators, we lift up the conversation about changing the way kids eat, and open up a space for participants to imagine and act on the possibilities we’ve surfaced.
We can also offer refreshments, table information on local organizations, and any printed materials or announcements community members would like to share.
