Food Justice Week event informs students of worldwide poverty
At most banquets, guests are served more food than they can eat.
The Oxfam Hunger Banquet on Tuesday night, however, had many guests leaving with empty stomachs.
The event was intended to raise awareness of food insecurity among lower socioeconomic classes. The banquet was sponsored by Oxfam, an international coalition of 15 organizations that work to end poverty and injustice.
Attendees picked a piece of paper at random that assigned them to one of three income classes upon entering the banquet. Along with each income class was a brief description of the lifestyle experienced by people of that class.
Guests were seated according to the income class they were assigned.
The upper income level attendees were seated at a table with dishes and silverware. Upon entering, they were served bread and their choice of either tea or water.
Once the banquet began, guests assigned to the upper income class were served a full dinner.
Those assigned to the middle income class were seated in chairs and had to get their own meals, which consisted of beans and rice with water or tea to drink.
Attendees assigned to the lower class sat on newspapers on the floor and were fed only rice and water, which they had to get for themselves.
The number of people assigned to each class was based on the percentages of the world population who are part of each income level.
Natalie Reeder, a fourth-year chemical engineering student, said she was surprised by how few people were served a full meal compared to those who were only served a small amount of food.
“I think it’s very interesting to see the distribution,” Reeder said.
Carrie Draper, study coordinator at Midlands Family Study, spoke at the event. Draper shared stories of South Carolinians who are suffering from poverty and hunger.
Over the past year, Draper has collected these stories from impoverished residents around the state.
The subjects of these stories ranged from those who had been in poverty for their whole lives to those who became impoverished after retiring.
The event was one of nine that are part of Food Justice Week, which is organized by Sustainable Carolina and put on by various student organizations as well as Oxfam.
Some of the student organizations include Students Allied for Better Immigration Opportunities, Student Action with Farmworkers, Healthy Carolina, Carolina Service Council and the USC chapter of No Kid Hungry.
Christina Cole, one of the organizers of Food Justice Week, said the events of the week are intended “to promote awareness of local and global food insecurity and offer options for people to make more sustainable food choices.”
Cole said only one-third of the world population has secure access to food, even though enough food is produced to feed the entire population. She said she and the other organizers hope Food Justice Week will help students think about how fortunate they are to always have steady access to food.
The week of events was organized to be integrated with National Farmworkers Awareness Week, which raises awareness about farmworkers and food supply issues. This event is organized by SAF and observed by student chapters across the country.
The week is in its 13th year and has grown to take place in 67 cities across 13 states. In 2011, more than 90 events were part of the week.
Though only in its first year at USC, Cole said she hopes Food Justice Week will have a large impact on the university community.
“We are hoping to have a lot of attendees at our events, enabling our message to reach as many people as possible,” Cole said. “It is so important for people to be aware of how their choices affect the world.”