Banquet serves up information on global hunger

An interactive "hunger banquet" was held at Wheaton on February 28 to help raise campus awareness of global hunger, poverty and fair trade.

Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization, designed the hunger banquet to help raise consciousness of the persistent problem of world hunger and how it can be addressed. The campus banquet illustrated the disparities in wealth throughout the world by demonstrating what people of differing economic classes are able to feed their families at a typical meal.

Upon entering the Faculty/Staff Dining Hall in Emerson, each person was given an identity card and directed toward a specific seating area based on their assigned economic status.

Those assigned to the lower class gathered in a circle on the floor, while the middle class sat at bare tables and the upper class enjoyed the luxury of a few nicely set tables with beverages waiting for them.

Before dinner was served, each group was given statistics relevant to their economic status. While the upper class, with an average annual income of over $10,726, represents only 15 percent of world population and has the best health care available, the lower class constitutes the majority of the population with an annual income of less than $876.

When it was time to eat, the lower class was left to serve themselves water and rice on the floor while the middle class had a buffet style meal of rice and beans with water. All the while, the upper class received two lavish courses from a neatly dressed waitress.

"The juxtaposition of tables forced an awareness of humanity functioning as a whole, in poverty and in wealth," said Veronica Rogers '10, a banquet participant. "This awareness instilled an understanding of how close to home these issues really are. If we want change, we have to recognize not only our immediate economic environment, but the economic environment of the world as a whole."

Throughout the evening, some of the guests had to face unpredictable changes in their economic circumstances, which illustrated the interconnected nature of economic activity. For instance, a woman of the lower class was told she would only receive half a portion of rice that day because the cutbacks in the local coffee industry meant local pickers wouldn't be able to purchase her maize.

The Oxfam hunger banquets, held throughout the country, are designed to bring global issues to the personal level and provide information to promote social justice and end poverty.

Katherine Jennings, the Americorps/VISTA worker in the Office of Service, Spirituality and Social Responsibility, approached Hannah Gilman '10, with the idea of coordinating an Oxfam hunger banquet at Wheaton. Gilman took up the challenge.

"I thought it was an excellent idea and something that many Wheaton students were passionate about," she said. "When I realized that people were also passionate about Fair Trade, and that this issue was related to why so many people worldwide go hungry, I decided to incorporate a fair trade campaign into the hunger banquet."

On the night of the event, students were asked to sign the Big Noise, Oxfam's petition in support of fair trade.

Participants also took a quiz on poverty and hunger, learning that 37 million U.S. citizens live below the poverty line, a number equal to the resident population of Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin combined; and that 20 percent of the world's population lives on one dollar a day or less. The group also watched a film about Oxfam America's mission and programs.

Gilman said of the evening, "I hope that participants gained a greater understanding of world hunger and see that it is not an issue that is totally beyond their control."