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Thanksgiving, Banquets, and Hunger: Pausing to Consider Justice in the Midst of Plenty

Thanksgiving, Banquets, and Hunger: Pausing to Consider Justice in the Midst of Plenty

Last updated on: November 24, 2015 at 11:02 am by Rebecca Todd Peters

Thanksgiving, Banquets, and Hunger: Pausing to Consider Justice in the Midst of Plenty 2015-11-24T11:02:25-04:00 Rebecca Todd Peters

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“I was hungry and you gave me food.” – Matthew 25:35

Most people in the US have already started our preparations for Thanksgiving. Turkeys have been ordered or bought. Pies and cakes are being made. Shopping lists of stuffing, potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, broccoli, green beans, onions, milk, cream, eggs, tiny marshmallows, and butter – oh, the butter that will be needed!

For some it will be a small intimate affair with immediate family. Others will have larger, boisterous gatherings, pot luck style where everyone brings a dish to share.

Many of the homeless and food insecure members of our community will be treated to a special meal at local churches, homeless shelters, or the generosity of community donations will assist them in having a special meal in their own home with family and friends.

And this is good. Sharing what we have with others is one of the primary teachings of the Christian tradition. Unfortunately, too many of us only remember to do this at holidays or when we pause at times like Thanksgiving to count our blessings.

Last week a group of students in my Environmental Ethics class held a “Hunger Banquet” as a way to teach their peers about the problem of hunger, poverty, and food distribution in our world. This is how it works.

When the students walked into our classroom, it had been transformed into a banquet hall. There was one table in the center of the room set for two, with a linen tablecloth, fine china, crystal stemware and sterling silver utensils. At this table, the two students were served a hearty Italian meal complete with eggplant lasagna, polenta cubes, and a healthy salad. They had sparkling grape juice and fresh bread with butter on the side and the meal ended with a spectacular tiramisu.

Over to the side was a longer set of desks pushed together to form a table where six students were served water with a small apple and a slice of bread on paper plates.

Stuck in a corner, on the floor were the remaining twelve students. They were given a half a cup of rice and a half a cup of water

As each student showed up for class they were assigned a random place at the table for our noontime meal. Kind of like the chance way each of us are born into a country and a family without any effort, action, or intentionality on our part.

As the students ate their meals, their “hosts” shared information about the problem of hunger around the world.

Every year, consumers in industrial countries waste almost as much food as the entire net worth food production of sub-Saharan Africa. (1)

In the US, 30-40% of the food supply in wasted, equaling more than 20 pounds of food per person, per month. (2)

The USDA estimates that more than 30 percent of groceries in the US are thrown away each year. (3)

More than 49 million US Americans lived in households that struggled to put food on the table in 2013. (4)

Worldwide, 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty – on less than $1.25 a day. (5)

Hunger banquets have been used in churches, classrooms, and community settings since the 1970s to help raise awareness about the problems of hunger and food distribution in our world. The distribution of the students at our hunger banquet mirrors the distribution of food in our world.

Those two students who enjoyed a meal of plenty represent the ten percent of the world’s people who not only have enough to eat, but who have an overabundance of food. While most of these people represent those of us who live in the first world, they also represent the global elite in other parts of the world and we must remember that too many people in wealthy countries still do not have enough to eat.

The six students who had a simple meal represent the thirty percent of the world’s population who eat simply but regularly.

The twelve students who ate a simple meal of rice and water represent the majority of the world’s people who represent varying degrees of hunger – from missed or too small meals to literally starving to death.

The students’ experience also reflected the reality of food, hunger, poverty and wealth around the world. The two students with the abundant meal picked at their food and left the majority of it on their plates. Most of the students in the middle group ate their apples and bread and didn’t seem terribly put out. And the students on the floor eating a small portion of rice were alternately sullen, angry, hungry and resentful as they looked longingly at the uneaten food on the table of plenty throughout the course.

After class ended, many students descended on the banquet table and devoured the “leftovers.” But that’s not how food waste and hunger works in the real world.

Despite the fact that enough food is produced worldwide to feed all the people in the world, nearly 1 billion people suffer from chronic hunger. However, much of that food is either used to feed livestock or is lost or wasted by farmers and consumers.

The good news is – ending hunger in our world is possible.

In 1960, 1 in 3 people worldwide were hungry. Today that number is between 1 in 8 to 9 people, about 795 million people.

Since 1990, global hunger had decreased by 39%. In the US, the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) moved 3.7 million US Americans out of poverty in 2013 and the National School Lunch Program fed 21.5 million low-income children. (6)

Ending hunger is not some pie-in-the-sky utopian dream. It is a matter of political will – the people of the world deciding that hunger and starvation are not acceptable and making the necessary changes to end hunger.

As we count our blessings and prepare for our own banquets this week, thinking, praying, and strategizing about what we can do to end hunger in our communities, our nation, and our world bears some consideration.

(6) Facts on Hunger and Poverty in the US and Internationally (download), Bread for the World

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