Oxfam Hunger Banquet Raises Awareness of Food Inequality and World Hunger.

The Rotaract club, in collaboration with the Student Senate, the International Health Department, and the Medicine in Public Health Association, hosted an Oxfam Hunger Banquet to raise awareness about the inequalities in food and access to resources.

As they arrived in the Hiebert Student Lounge, the 75 dinner participants chose a “character card” that randomly assigned them to a high-, middle-, or low-income group based on the percentage of annual income spent on food. Oxfam and other agencies report that the world’s poorest people often spend as much as 50 percent of their annual income on food, while food costs for high-earning people in the developed world are about 15 percent of annual income. Much of the world is in the middle of that range, at 35percent of income spent on food.

The dinner that participants received corresponded to their income group. The low-income group received rice and water and ate sitting on the floor in the back; the middle-income group received rice, beans, and water and sat in chairs, and the high-income group were served a healthy dinner of bread, salad, and pasta at large tables adorned with tablecloths, candles, and a beverage representing fine wine.

Event co-organizer Michelle Vickery opened the Oct. 19 event with thanks sponsors, donors, and attendees. Jon Simon, chair of the Department of International Health, reminded attendees that the good fortune of those eating high-income meals contrasted starkly with the standing of low-income group.

Simon drew attention to the inequalities that persist even in the developed world in cities like Boston, in the communities surrounding the medical campus. Simon reminded the audience of sobering facts about health, child survival, and socioeconomic inequalities.

Jule Meyer from Oxfam America shared anecdotes about her experiences abroad and discussed Oxfam’s recent advocacy campaigns for farmers and other groups involved in improving food security and access. Simon mediated a sharing session where attendees spoke about the first time they realized some of the inequalities highlighted by the banquet, and asked attendees how they were affected.

Attendees left with a renewed optimism that they will work to reduce inequalities and make an impact on the world.

Contributed by Michelle Vickery