Hunger Banquet shares lessons of inequality

Students had a chance this week to experience hunger and inequality first hand for an evening.

The first ever Hunger Awareness Banquet was held Wednesday night in the Lincoln Filene Center and was sponsored by the Leonard Carmichael Society groups, Hunger Project and Food Rescue.

The banquet allowed students to recreate inequality in world diets, with the students divided into lower, middle, and upper classes, and receiving food accordingly.

Upon entering the Rabb Room participants selected a piece of paper from a basket that would indicate which social class they represented. Fifteen percent of the papers were the high class, 30 percent were middle class, and 55 percent represented the low class. With an audience of about 20, the banquet adequately symbolized the three economic categories that reflect the division of wealth in the world.

Students were fed according to their social class with the high class receiving a gourmet meal and the low class a serving of rice with no utensils.

Students thought the interactive approach worked to bring hunger issues into their consciousness. "You just feel angry seeing people eating all that food that they can't even finish; it's frustrating" a girl who sat on the floor with the lower class said. "You want to say something but you don't have a voice."

The political message of the evening was very clear for those attending. "There is plenty of food in the world, just improper distribution and it won't end until there is political and economic change," one of the coordinators said.

The structure of the event was loose and allowed for students to break off and discuss a wide range of subject matter from hunger issues to lighter issues such as finals and Spring Fling.

Coordinators Monisha Sharma, Lisa BonoCorredor, and Nayad Abrahamian stressed the importance of educating students about hunger issues. "We are trying to make people aware of the problems," BonoCorredor said.

Attendees noted the massive debt many developing nations have as a serious obstacle to ending hunger. Mozambique spends 107 million dollars, or about $5.50 per person, each year on debt repayment. However, the country spends only two US dollars per person per year on health and four US dollars on education, with no money going toward food distribution.

When developing nations take out loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank they must agree to conditions which decrease spending on government services including health, education, and food distribution.

The speakers strongly stressed that despite aid from countries, including the US, developing nations are unable to provide the bare necessities for their citizens, largely because of IMF and World Bank conditions.

Critics call on the IMF to cancel the debts owed to them by impoverished countries that routinely spend more money servicing foreign debt, up to 25 percent of their GDP, than improving the destitute quality of life within their state.

According to Jubilee, the international campaign for a one-time cancellation of IMF debts, the debt of the developing countries could be erased with no cost to US taxpayers. The IMF would cover the cost of cancellation with funds already collected.

Another issue brought up during the presentation was Fair Trade. With the overproduction of coffee, caused by IMF sanctions in Vietnam, small coffee farmers throughout the world have suffered extreme losses. With the supply of coffee continuously going up and the demand remaining static the prices fall but farmers suffer.

Fair Trade establishes a basic and fair price for coffee and improves not only the quality of life for the farmer but the quality of the coffee being produced as well.

On campus Oxfam Caf?© exclusively serves Fair Trade coffee and at least one type is available at Brown and Brew, Hotung, and the Commons.

Coordinators were pleased by the audience of about 20 and hoped to work on advertising for next year's banquet. The event raised 50 dollars in donations, which will go to the Somerville Homeless Coalition, which is closing down due to recent budget cuts.