ABOUT THE FILM
Paint Your Plate is a feature doc on the organization Common Threads, begun by Chef Art Smith, who many people know as Oprah's long-time personal chef. In a nutshell, they match inner-city and low-income kids with professional chefs from top restaurants, and those from BRAVO and The Food Network, to teach them how to cook healthy and delicious food while learning the cuisine and culture of a new region of the world each week.

Chef Art and his partner Jesus Salguiero, an artist, were in NYC the week after 9/11 upon being asked by Oprah to cook for families who'd lost loved ones. They came away shaken and changed and wanting to do something towards assuring that it did not happen again. One thing they noted was that the families were no longer coming to the table with one another; and the other sad by-product was the extreme fear of "others" that was taking over. So, they came up with Common Threads as a way to educate the next generation while also urging a move back to the table. The bonus was that, with most of the children living in "food deserts" (areas not served by major grocery chains, and often offering access to food via liquor stores and gas stations), the program would also be tackling the health issues that disproportionately affected these children and their families (obesity, diabetes, heart disease). Fast forward several years, and the program is now in Chicago, L.A., Miami, and Washington, DC.

IN THE FILM
CHEF ART SMITH—Two-time James Beard Award recipient, former personal chef to Oprah Winfrey, contributing editor to O Magazine, award-winning cookbook author, and co-founder of Common Threads
http://www.tablefifty-two.com/

JESUS SALGUEIRO—Renowned Venezuelan-born artist, and co-founder of Common Threads
http://susejart.com/

DR. REED TUCKSON—Former Washington, DC Health Commissioner, Charles Drew University Medical School President, named one of Black Enterprise’s “100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America,” and current Exec VP and Chief of Medical Affairs at United Health Group
http://www.americashealthrankings.org/2009/TucksonBio.pdf

MARI GALLAGHER—Nationally-recognized expert on Food Deserts research and actions to mitigate their effects.  She now writes for the Huffington Post.
http://marigallagher.com/

U. S. SENATOR RICHARD J. DURBIN— Illinois Senator since 1996, long-time advocate for children’s health initiatives.
http://durbin.senate.gov/

CHARLIE ANNENBERG WEINGARTEN—A trustee of the Annenberg Foundation, founder of Explore, a signature project of the Annenberg Foundation that showcases non-profit efforts around the world.
http://www.explore.org/

LINDA NOVICK O’KEEFE—Exec Dir of Common Threads, advocate on the importance of reversing the trend of generations of non-cooking families.
http://www.commonthreads.org/

CHEF BILL KIM
http://www.urbanbellychicago.com/

CHEF CARLA HALL
http://www.carlahall.com/about/

CHEF DOMENICA CATELLI
http://www.bemomalicious.com/

CHEF MICHELLE BERNSTEIN
http://chefmichellebernstein.com/restaurants/

CHEF ALEKKA SWEENEY
http://www.givesugar.com/staff.htm

GALLERY

Chicago screening of Paint Your Plate at the Gene Siskel Film Center