Hunger Banquet: Raising Awareness of World Hunger

On Wednesday, Cast A had an emotionally charging education workshop concerning world hunger. Instead of being fed lunch, we entered a room and were handed an identity card stating who we were, where we lived, a bit about our lives, and our income status (high, middle, or low). We passed haunting statistics and photos on the wall as we made our way to our "class section." I took on the identity of Deng, a poor farmer from Vietnam. Due to my low-income status, I joined the majority of the cast on the floor, in a section covered in trash. The middle-income people had a circle of chairs, and the high-income group had a full table with chairs and decorations. The high-class was served by the staff. They were able to pick their beverage and were soon brought salads with vegetables and dressing. Later they received chicken and pasta, and finally fresh fruit. In the meantime, the middle-class group was given a big pot of seasoned rice and a pot of beans, Horchata (a cinnamon rice/milk type Mexican drink), and serving utensils and cups for everyone. Finally, the low-class was given a big vat of half-cooked rice cooked that was sitting in way too much water. It was a combination of mush and crunchy uncooked rice - there’s no good way to describe it. We were also given murky water in a jug, 8 plastic cups and a used metal serving pan (it still had some salad in it from the high-class meal). There were about 40 of us in the low-income group, so we had to figure out how to serve ourselves and make it work without having proper serving utensils or plates/silverware. I took a piece of paper that I had and folded it up to make a makeshift plate/utensil, but it wasn’t easy. A lot of people were eating with their hands or sharing cups, or even using the trash off the floor.

Eventually, the staff came in and took all of the food away – and there was still a LOT. Then, they brought in a trashcan and made a public display of throwing all the remaining food away as we had to sit and watch. At one point, one cast member from the low-income group ran up and grabbed a bowl of fruit out of the hands of a staff member before she could throw it away. It made me realize why thievery can be so present in such low-income areas. You fight to survive and do whatever it takes to do so.

The whole group in our Hunger Banquet room. Far left: High-income, Middle: Middle-income, Far right: low-income. Photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

The middle-income group serves up rice and beans. Photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

The middle-income meal: Rice, beans, Horchata, and serving utensils. Photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

The entire experience really impacted me because the statistics hit me hard. I always knew there was a bad imbalance of income level and food distribution, but I didn't know the hard facts. Perhaps you don’t, either, so I'd like to share them with you:

In a world-context, low-income includes anyone who earns less than $911 (USD) a year. Middle-class is considered anyone earning $912-$9075 a year. High-income is everyone else who's income is more than $9075 a year. Even though individual counties might have different ideas of what low, middle, and high classes are, it's eye-opening to see the worldwide statistics.

When it comes to the distribution of world income, the imbalance in numbers is numbing. The poorest 20% of the population have only 1.4% of the world income. The fourth 20% hold 1.9%, the third 20% have 2.3%. The second 20% hold 11.7%, and the richest 20% own a staggering 82.7% of the world's income.

1.7 billion people worldwide lack access to clean water

Every 3.6 seconds, 1 person dies of starvation...usually a child under 5.

7 countries are home to 2/3rds of those who suffer from chronic hunger. Those countries are: Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

As a cast, we also discussed solutions and steps we can personally take to help the cause. Of course, there are the small steps such as not wasting food and making sure to buy fair trade items so that all workers involved in the production of a good receive fair and equal pay. But if you are interested in learning more and taking further action, please look up the following organizations and become involved as you see fit:

1. Stop the Hunger - www.stopthehunger.com

2. End Poverty International - http://www.endpovertyinternational.org

3. Mercy Corps - http://www.mercycorps.org

4. Feeding America - http://feedingamerica.org

5. UNICEF - http://www.unicef.org/

You can also take some time to play Free Rice on www.freerice.com. For every correct word association you guess correctly (or any subject question, for that matter! You can change what the questions are about!), the World Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to impoverished communities worldwide. It’s a free game that helps feed the world, all while improving your vocabulary and other knowledge.

The Hunger Banquet was an amazing opportunity that really got our cast thinking. It propelled us to take action, and we hope that these statistics will prompt you to do the same. Curing world hunger can not and will not be cured overnight, but with little efforts from many, overtime, we can improve the quality of life for millions worldwide.