What’s a 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 happens in the program?
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.
What do participants take away?
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 learn how to use our films in their own work. They 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 feature examples from the field, and learn more about your community. Then we spread the news and connect people through our network.
“The Media Social that Helen De Michiel organized around LUNCH LOVE COMMUNITY was a memorable and truly original Cinema Pacific event. It both enlightened people to the potential of transmedia ‘open space’ documentary and also offered an exciting model of community activism, directly engaging foodies and food reformers in our community.”
Richard Herskowitz
Director, Cinema Pacific Film Festival
