Join Fowler and Open Table staff to discuss Qian Julie Wang's memoir, Beautiful Country, considering food insecurity here in the United States. Our discussion will be facilitated in part by Peilin Reed, a member of the Open Table community. Peilin writes: "Both my parents and grandparents were born in China and evacuated to Taiwan in 1949-1950. I grew up listening to a lot of war time stories and how tough life was during war time. I am lucky to be born in Taiwan during their economic boom period. Our family moved to Boston when I was 15 year old for my father's job in 1988. I went to BU for undergraduate and Medical School. We have lived in Concord since 2012 and feel very blessed to live around so many farms which allow our family to practice eating local produce."

Copies of the book are available at Fowler. 

About the Book:

Wang tells her own story. In 1994 she was seven and an undocumented immigrant from China living with her parents in Brooklyn in poverty. Unlike in China, she was always hungry in her new country. She writes:

"That I might be far hungrier in the Beautiful Country than I had ever been in my short, lucky life in Zhong Guo occurred to me just a few days after we got off that plane. When we walked past bakeries and stores now, there was no pausing, no pushing our noses up against the window, no lingering before we decided to go in because we deserved to treat ourselves. It was almost as if Ma Ma no longer saw my hunger."

About Open Table

Open Table’s mission is to end hunger in our local community by providing healthy food in ways that respect the dignity and diversity of those served.

Open Table offers a wide variety of healthy and culturally appropriate groceries and prepared meals at our main facility in Maynard and through several mobile pantries and delivery programs. They provide a welcoming community of support and assistance to families and individuals, including many seniors and children in central Middlesex county, and have a team of diverse, committed and passionate staff and volunteers. Learn more.