The Dude really does abide

El Cabrero is a big fan of Jeff Bridges, and especially of that masterpiece of cinematography The Big Lebowski. That's a film that I feel like I've lived, not just watched--especially on those days when the world micturates on my rug, metaphorically speaking. It tied the whole room together...

I didn't realize until recently that Bridges was a major anti-hunger activist. Here are a couple of great quotes from his foreword to A Place at the Table, the companion book to a film of the same name. Here goes:

Charity is an important provider of emergency assistance, but it is not a way to feed a nation. We don't protect our national security through charity, and we shouldn't protect our families that way either.

What could be more important for our nation than finding a solution to this important problem with such an impact on our future? If another country was doing this to our children, we'd be a war...

West Virginia is trying to get a handle on the entwined problems of hunger, food insecurity, poor nutrition and obesity. Its legislature recently passed the Feed to Achieve Act, which aims at nudging counties, schools, nonprofits and individuals to ensure that all school children in the state receive at least two nutritious meals per day and engage in physical activity. It also encourages creative solutions to these problems beyond the school day and the school year. It's going to take work, but I hope we can move beyond charity towards justice.

After all, the Dude has spoken.