Hunger games

I attended a local hunger banquet last night to commemorate World Food Day. The concept of a hunger banquet is simple. People are randomly assigned a meal representing a typical diet for high, medium, or low income groups across the world. It provides a look at the nutritional and caloric disparity in diet. The high income meal was not lavish, but did provide a 4 oz serving of protein, two servings of fresh vegetables, and two servings of grain. The middle income meal was beans and rice, which provides protein and comparable calories to the high income meal, but fewer nutrients. The low income meal was rice, which was deficient in calories and nutrients.



To drive home the disparities, the number of each type of meal was representative of global food availability. About 15% of the banquet attendees received the high income meal, 50% received the middle income meal, and 35% received the low income meal. As we ate, each table discussed the disparities, particularly in the context of our personal experiences. Most at my table had never experienced food insecurity.

One word seems best to describe the thoughts of folks at our table - consciousness. We agreed that we rarely give food a second thought beyond when and what we will eat. There are never questions about if we will eat or whether it will be filling and nutritious. We may choose to eat unhealthy food, but that will be because it will be fast and full of fat. Someone at the table confessed to have eaten a donut or two at the local coffee shop before coming to the dinner.

This particular hunger banquet was an interfaith gathering. There were folks from local Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and Buddhist congregations. Thanks to random assignment, you were likely to eat with strangers from a different faith tradition. It is a good design. Otherwise, we would have clumped up into comfortable enclaves of friends and fellow congregants. We humans love our tribes.

Speakers from every faith tradition spoke about their scriptural call to address the problem of hunger. All did a nice job of hammering home the message that we are our brother's and sister's keeper. I did not have a favorite speaker, but I did have a favorite quote (Deuteronomy 16:20):

Justice, only justice, you must pursue; so that you will live and inherit the land Adonai your God is giving you.

All too often, we pursue injustice out of greed. The result is always death, disease, and dislocation.

In addition to justice and generosity of spirit, the other message driven home was that we are stronger together. Whatever our theological differences, solving big problems requires cooperation and trying to outdo one another in love. How ironic this hunger banquet coincided with a so-called debate in a divisive political contest in which there has been an abundance of trash talk about the poor and the use of faith as a weapon.

The dessert course was a chance to talk with representatives of organizations working to address the problem of hunger locally and internationally. Donations were limited to $1. The goal was not to raise money, but encourage people to donate their time to serve others.

All in all, it was a satisfying meal.